Flappy Bird's original creator does not support its upcoming Web3-backed re-release

by Danny Craig · 9/16/24, 8:58 AM
Flappy Bird's original creator does not support its upcoming Web3-backed re-release
The Flappy Bird Foundation

After it was announced that the iconic mobile title Flappy Bird would be returning over a decade after being delisted, its original creator, Dong Nguyen, made it clear that he does not support the re-release or its links to Web3 and cryptocurrency.

The details:

  • Last week, it was revealed that "a new team of passionate fans" known as The Flappy Bird Foundation had acquired the trademark for Flappy Bird, a side-scroller in which players had to guide a bird between pipes by tapping the screen. Nguyen abruptly delisted the original release from stores in early 2014, citing concerns about its addictiveness despite earning upwards of $50,000 every day.

  • However, it was discovered that the game's trademark had been acquired by Gametech Holdings, which had taken it directly from Nguyen after he failed to renew it. This implied that Nguyen had not received any compensation for the trademark, nor had he permitted a re-release.

  • Fans also discovered that Michael Roberts, the leader of the Flappy Bird Foundation, is also the head of the crypto firm 1208 Productions, which is behind the Web3 game publishing platform GLP. Although the game has not been confirmed to include Web3 elements, it will feature new characters and modes, and given its free-to-play structure, microtransactions of some kind are likely.

  • Following the announcement, Nguyen returned to X after seven years to confirm that he has no ties to the project and is not a crypto fan. “No, I have no [relation to] their game,” Nguyen wrote. “I did not sell anything. I also don't support crypto.”

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