‘Flappy Bird’ Returns as Telegram Crypto Game But Creator Denies Involvement

Following days of speculation about the nature of the game’s return, it’s now official: After disappearing 10 years ago, mobile game Flappy Bird has Flappy Bird’s return is being done in collaboration with The Telegram launch of Flappy Bird began Monday with what’s called the “Flap-a-TON” event, which is described in a press release as “a free mining event, blending the fun of Flappy Bird’s classic gameplay with the innovation of Web3.” The game is But the launch of a crypto-fueled Telegram version has already been deeply controversial as first hints of the pivot were discovered last week. A web-based version of the game mentioned a FLAP token on TON, as Another Blockchain games and cryptocurrency are often shunned by traditional gamers, but there’s another element to last week’s announcement that raised eyebrows: evidence that original Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen—who famously pulled the game offline in 2014 amid its overwhelming success—apparently had nothing to do with the revival.As discovered by game developer “But why would Nguyen sell the Flappy Bird Trademark??” “Hope he got his bag”Looks like he *didn’t*.It seems like it’s been long enough that the trademark was considered abandoned, so Gametech Holdings LLC filed against him, and just. Grabbed it for free. pic.twitter.com/EwVzuOLcHm— Samperson (@SamNChiet) September 12, 2024In last week’s initial announcement, The Flappy Bird Foundation said that it acquired the official trademark for the classic mobile game from Gametech, along with the rights to Nguyen confirmed those suspicions on Sunday, emerging from a seven-year Twitter hiatus to confirm that he isn’t working on the Flappy Bird revival and did not sell the rights.“I also don’t support crypto,” Nguyen affirmed in No, I have no related with their game. I did not sell anything. I also don’t support crypto.— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) September 15, 2024Nguyen’s comment only amplified the backlash against the Flappy Bird revival, which is credited in a press release to “Chief Creative” Michael Roberts, who previously spearheaded the NFT project Deez. Roberts had In response to a question regarding the acquisition of the Flappy Bird brand rights and the involvement of Nguyen, the Foundation sent “The Flappy Bird Foundation Group is the rightful owner of the Flappy Bird trademark. The brand and community were abandoned in 2014, and in 2018, the trademark registration was awarded by the United States Patent and Trademark Office to Mobile Media Partners, Inc. Gametech Holdings, LLC later acquired the rights, and on August 23, 2024, the Flappy Bird Foundation Group acquired the trademark rights from Gametech Holdings, LLC. The acquisition was conducted through a fully legal and transparent process, ensuring that the game’s revival is both legitimate and respectful of its history.”The Foundation did not specifically respond to questions regarding Nguyen.Flappy Bird’s imminent revival was first announced last week, with the viral mobile game—which tasks users with guiding a pixel bird through an obstacle course of pipes—teased to return in some form this year ahead of dedicated iOS and Android apps in 2025.With this relaunch of the game, the Flappy Bird Foundation promised “new game modes, characters, progression, and massive multiplayer challenges.” Initial screenshots showcased new battle royale and basketball modes, along with fresh characters to use.“Telegram, as a platform, has proven to be a hub for communities that thrive on interaction, which aligns perfectly with our vision for bringing Flappy Bird into the Web3 space,” a spokesperson told “By launching Flappy Bird on Telegram first, we’re able to connect with an engaged audience that’s excited about gaming and blockchain integration,” they continued. “Pairing the robust support from the TON community with the current infrastructure on Telegram has effectively provided us with the ideal launchpad for Flappy Bird.”Flappy Bird will be the second game launched via the Notcoin platform following the discontinuation of the original tap-to-earn experience and the launch of the NOT token on TON in May. Notcoin launched a narrative game based on the Lost Dogs NFT project last month, and that experience concluded its tale last week.“Notcoin has a deep connection with the gaming community on TON,” the Flappy Bird Foundation spokesperson said, “and partnering with them allows us to honor Flappy Bird’s legacy from its Web2 roots while expanding into new areas of innovation.”The Foundation rep said that Flappy Bird will “always remain a free-to-play game,” but that they “fully intend to integrate TON into the game’s ecosystem as part of future updates.”“With the launch of Season 1 of our mining event, players will have opportunities to earn TON through gameplay,” they said, “but our immediate goal is to enhance the player experience and keep the community engaged as we roll out new features.”In 2014, indie developer Nguyen took the world by storm with the release of Flappy Bird. Quickly, the game attracted But Nguyen wasn’t happy. “I can call Flappy Bird a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it,” he said on I can call ‘Flappy Bird’ is a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it.— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 8, 2014Since then, we’ve seen multiple knockoffs of the iconic mobile game—including a Flappy Bird is coming back as a Telegram mini app as part of the TON crypto gaming ecosystem that has seen explosive growth across 2024, mostly via Notcoin was the first mover for the trend, garnering 35 million players between January and March and eventually launching a token that