Cult mobile game: "Flappy Bird" returns – without the inventor's blessing
More than ten years after its original release, the legendary mobile game "Flappy Bird" is about to return. But the inventor has nothing to do with it.
(Image: The Flappy Bird Foundation)
"Flappy Bird" is coming back: the legendary mobile game in which you have to steer a bird between pipes is about to return ten years after its original release. The new game is being developed and marketed by a group called "The Flappy Bird Foundation".
However, Dong Nguyen, the original inventor of "Flappy Bird", has nothing to do with it. He was neither involved in the development nor did he sell the "Flappy Bird" license, he writes in an X-Post. Nguyen had a viral hit with "Flappy Bird", which turned his life upside down. Due to the mega-hype surrounding "Flappy Bird", Nguyen surprisingly decided to remove the game from the stores. "I can't take it anymore," wrote Nguyen at the time. He was particularly concerned about the addictive nature of the game.
Rights lost
Any speculation that this was a PR stunt and that the app would surely return to the stores soon turned out to be false: Nguyen never brought back "Flappy Bird" for Android and iOS. Only a modified version for Amazon's Fire TV was released. However, because Nguyen has not used the "Flappy Bird" trademark since then, a company called Gametech Holdings was apparently able to fight for the license in court.
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In January, Nguyen's trademark on "Flappy Bird" was terminated by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the license was transferred to Gametech. In the end, The Flappy Bird Foundation bought the rights for an undisclosed sum. Nguyen therefore does not appear to benefit financially in any way from the new "Flappy Bird" game – He no longer holds any rights and has not sold his license, but simply lost it.
Crypto scam?
In the gaming community, the joy over the return of "Flappy Bird" is largely limited – not only because an enigmatic solo developer has been replaced by a company that bought the rights in a dubious way. There are also signs that cryptocurrency plays a role in the new "Flappy Bird", or at least was originally intended to do so.
Cybersecurity expert Varun Biniwale has found landing pages on the new "Flappy Bird" website that reference terms such as "Web3" and "crypto". However, "The Flappy Bird Foundation" has not yet publicly announced any plans to incorporate cryptocurrencies or NFTs into their game in any form.
What exactly the new "Flappy Bird" will look like is therefore still open. There is no release date yet – "Flappy Bird" is due to be released "soon" for Android and iOS.
(dahe)
