Original Creator Flappy Bird distanced himself from the recently announced mobile remake, linking it to cryptocurrencies and distancing himself from the project.
The up-to-date game, announced last week, was the “official” return of the mobile classic and was set to feature the core gameplay as well as up-to-date single- and multiplayer modes and characters. Developer Dong Nguyen posted miniature statement on X (formerly Twitter), explaining that he was not involved in the up-to-date game and “I do not support cryptocurrencies.”
No, I have nothing to do with their game. I didn’t sell anything.
I also do not support cryptocurrencies.— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) September 15, 2024
While the original press release did not mention any explicit connection to Nguyen, Flappy Bird Marketing materials seem to indicate a connection. “A decade ago, I was the talk of the town… Unfortunately, I had to leave my fame and notoriety behind to come home and find out who I really was,” the site’s home page reads. It goes on to say that she “worked with my predecessor to free me.” That could refer to Nguyen, but it could also refer to Kek, the developer behind Piou Piou vs. Cactusconsidered to be the spiritual predecessor Flappy Bird.
The commentary on cryptocurrencies refers to research conducted by cybersecurity researcher Varun Biniwale, who Post published on his website on Thursday, outlining what Biniwale called some of the “fishy” aspects of the project. He wrote that Michael Roberts, the lead developer of the up-to-date Flappy Birdwas affiliated with a company called 1208 Productions, which owned the Deez NFT brand and operated on web3 as of 2021. While Roberts’ X profile lists the 1208 Productions website in Biniwale’s post, it now lists only the up-to-date Flappy Bird website. At the time of writing, the 1208 website does not list any of its web3 or NFT projects, but they can be viewed via Wayback Machine.
Biniwale also looked at the site’s metadata and pulled out several prototypes that mention connecting the game to various cryptocurrency wallets, as well as leaderboards that apparently include cryptocurrency influencers.
Nguyen published Flappy Bird in mobile game stores since 2013, but was withdrawn in 2014 because it “became an addictive product”, he told ForbesHe hasn’t touched it since, even though many developers have tried to cash in on the mod by creating clones.
According to court documents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (thanks to creator Sam “Samperson” Chiet for this thread X), Gametech Holdings LLC, the company listed by the Flappy Bird Foundation as the copyright holder, filed a trademark claim in 2023. In addition, it appears that a company called Mobile Media Partners, registered at the same address as Gametech, tried to officially register a trademark in February 2014, around the same time the original was made Flappy Bird was taken offline for a site called flappybirdreturns.com. The documents say she “reserved/acquired the name from Apple in their App Store.” It was officially registered in 2018.
Another document from 2023 states that Gametech, the current owner, I had to employ it before March 27, 2024. It appears Nguyen filed a counterclaim — also in March 2024. However, Gametech’s lawyers said Nguyen had not used the Flappy Bird name in a decade and had publicly disowned it. Evidence also points to a trademark registration in 2018. Nguyen missed certain deadlines in the proceedings at that time, so the claim against Gametech was terminated.
This Flappy Bird website claims there was a “ten-year mission” to “gain legal authority.”
