Repost: IGN, “Flappy Bird Creator Speaks Out After Revival Sparks Backlash”
Flappy Bird came to life in 2013 as yet another mobile game. It was created by Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen in just a few days, inspired by old school simplicity, and exploded into a viral sensation by early 2014. At the height of its popularity Nguyen shocked the gaming world by pulling the game from Apple’s App Store and Google Play, saying he felt uneasy about how addictive it had become and how it was affecting players’ lives.
In interviews Nguyen has been frank about his design philosophy, openly dismissing mainstream mobile hits like Angry Birds (released in 2009) as “too crowded” and overcomplicated, preferring instead a stripped-down challenge based on the simple old paddle ball concept that inspired Flappy Bird’s core mechanics.
Angry Birds has become emblematic of hyper commercialism in games. I’d argue it encouraged and predicted the rise in gambling addiction. What started as a single physics puzzle title grew into a sprawling franchise with dozens of spin-offs, a 2016 movie adaptation and ongoing merch. The brand even introduced characters like an LGBT+ bird named Jo. You know, because bird sexuality and pan-sexual bird representation matters.
Read Nguyen’s comments distancing himself from the revived Flappy Bird and the backlash around that revival on possibly the most famous gaming website, IGN (or below): Flappy Bird creator speaks out after revival sparks backlash (IGN)
Flappy Bird Creator Speaks Out After Revival Sparks Backlash
"I did not sell anything."
Wesley Yin-Poole; Sep 16, 2024
The creator of the original Flappy Bird has spoken out on the viral mobile game’s return to distance himself from the project and insist he did not sell the rights to the game.
In 2014, Vietnam-based developer Dong Nguyen shocked the gaming world when he pulled viral hit Flappy Bird from the App Store and the Google Play Store at a time when it was making tens of thousands of dollars a day. He went on to say: "I can call Flappy Bird a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it." Nguyen has largely avoided the limelight since.
10 years later, an organization calling itself the 'Flappy Bird Foundation' has announced plans to bring Flappy Bird back alongside a trailer, below, that leans on nostalgia for the original game, but without any mention of 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 sought to rescue the iconic gameplay and IP for the community of over 100 million enthusiasts.”
“The Flappy Bird Foundation is committed to preserving the Flappy Bird IP and expanding the legacy of Flappy Bird,” it said. “By faithfully bringing back our classic and nostalgic gameplay while introducing new elements, the Foundation aims to give back to the global fan community that created the phenomenon.”
However, eyebrows were raised by the involvement of Michael Roberts, who is said to be “the chief creative” behind Flappy Bird’s return. Roberts is founder of 1208 Productions, a mobile game developer heavily involved with NFTs and cryptocurrency, including the NFT brand 'Deez.'
Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen in 2014. Photo credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images.
Roberts now faces questions about how he came to own the Flappy Bird trademark. The Flappy Bird Foundation said it had “acquired” the official Flappy Bird trademark rights from a company called Gametech Holdings LLC, along with the rights for the original game and character Piou Piou vs. Cactus, the mobile title “that has long been credited as originally inspiring the iconic bird.”
It turns out that Gametech had filed an opposition to Nguyen’s Flappy Bird trademark last year, claiming he had abandoned it. After Nguyen failed to respond to various trademark notices, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) declared Nguyen’s original Flappy Bird trademark abandoned. Then, in January this year, the USPTO terminated Nguyen’s claim to it.
Web developer and cybersecurity researcher Varun Biniwale subsequently dug into the website of this new Flappy Bird game and found reference to Web 3.0. Biniwale even discovered builds of the game, which incorporate cryptocurrency and NFTs.
Now, Nguyen has broken his silence with a solitary tweet. In it, he insisted he has no involvement with the new Flappy Bird, he “did not sell anything,” and: “I also don’t support crypto.” It is Nguyen’s first tweet since retweeting a game trailer in 2017.
No, I have no related with their game. I did not sell anything. I also don't support crypto.
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory)September 15, 2024At the heart of this is the battle for the coveted Flappy Bird trademark, which the USPTO currently lists as owned by Gametech. In January, the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board issued a judgment by default against Nguyen because he failed to respond to the Board’s November 2023 notice of default. Nguyen had filed the Flappy Bird trademark at the USPTO back in early 2014.
Flappy Bird Foundation said it plans to launch its version of Flappy Bird by the end of October across multiple platforms including web browsers, and an iOS and Android version at some point in 2025.
IGN has asked The Flappy Bird Foundation for comment.
Photo credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images.
Bloating a deliberately simple game with blockchain concepts perfectly captures the crypto craze. Simple things were made needlessly complex in the hope that people would give away their money.
If we have to burn through Earth’s resources, I prefer they’re spent on AI research that has actual utility. I’m not a fan of pretending decentralization is better than Western powers backing financial institution, and I think the crypto craze was worse than the government bailouts people love to hate on. Oh, and people should put their phones down and go outside, or play board games, rather than jam trends into every facet of our lives.
I am posting this a few years late, in 2026, because it’s news to me. In 2026, it is striking how the NFT craze collapsed, just as many predicted. As I surround myself with nerds, I still hear the occasional claim that BTC or Web3 will “save the world,” mostly from people who are still convinced the Russia-Ukraine War is too complex to discuss. When I ask for concrete applications, the conversation reverts to mentions of how much money they made or could have made.
Just think about all the other games that could be “updated” to benefit narco-terrorism and, very likely, covert actors manipulating prices behind the scenes. While we are playing checkers, they are playing chess, and making black-market bets on their games that definitely benefit sex traffickers more than Epstein ever did.
