The creator of the original Flappy Bird game has spoken out about the return of the popular mobile game, distancing himself from the project and emphasizing that he has not sold the rights to the game.
In 2014, Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen shocked the gaming world when he pulled the viral hit Flappy Bird from the App Store and Google Play Store at a time when the game was earning tens of thousands of dollars a day. He added, “I can call Flappy Bird my success. But it’s also ruining my simple life. So now I hate it.” Nguyen has largely avoided the limelight ever since.
10 years later, an organization calling itself the Flappy Bird Foundation has announced plans to bring back Flappy Bird. The trailer below plays on the nostalgia of the original game, but doesn’t mention Nguyen.
The Flappy Bird Foundation said it was founded in 2023 and is “led by a dedicated team of passionate fans and industry veterans who share a deep love for Flappy Bird and want to save the iconic gameplay and intellectual property for a community of over 100 million enthusiasts.”
“The Flappy Bird Foundation is committed to preserving the Flappy Bird intellectual property and expanding the Flappy Bird legacy,” it reads. “By faithfully restoring our classic and nostalgic gameplay while introducing new elements, the Foundation aims to give back to the global community of fans that created this phenomenon.”
However, eyebrows were raised by the involvement of Michael Roberts, who is considered the “chief creative” behind the return of Flappy Bird. Roberts is the founder of 1208 Productions, a mobile games developer heavily involved in NFTs and cryptocurrencies, including the NFT brand “Deez.”
Roberts is now facing questions about how he came to own the Flappy Bird trademark. The Flappy Bird Foundation said it “acquired” the official rights to the Flappy Bird trademark from Gametech Holdings LLC, along with the rights to the original game and character Piou Piou vs. Cactus, a mobile title “long credited with being the original inspiration for the iconic bird.”
It turns out that Gametech filed a notice of opposition to Nguyen’s Flappy Bird trademark last year, claiming it had been abandoned. After Nguyen failed to respond to various trademark notices, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) declared Nguyen’s original Flappy Bird trademark abandoned. Then, in January of this year, the USPTO terminated Nguyen’s claim to the mark.
Web developer and cybersecurity researcher Varun Biniwale then searched the website for the fresh Flappy Bird game and found references to Web 3.0. Biniwale even discovered versions of the game that include cryptocurrency and NFTs.
Now, Nguyen has broken his silence with a lone tweet, insisting that he had nothing to do with the fresh Flappy Bird, that he “didn’t sell anything,” and that “I also don’t support cryptocurrencies.” It’s Nguyen’s first tweet since retweeting the game’s trailer in 2017.
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
At the center of all this is the battle over the coveted Flappy Bird trademark, which the USPTO currently lists as Gametech’s property. In January, the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board issued a default judgment against Nguyen because he failed to respond to a November 2023 notice of default. Nguyen filed a trademark application for Flappy Bird with the USPTO in early 2014.
The Flappy Bird Foundation said it plans to release its version of the Flappy Bird game by the end of October on multiple platforms, including web browsers, with an iOS and Android version to follow in 2025.
IGN has reached out to the Flappy Bird Foundation for comment.
Photo source: STR/AFP via Getty Images.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
