Ten years ago, Flappy Bird was a big hit among smartphone users, and many spent a long time trying to make this little yellow bird climb higher and higher along the pipe. But it didn’t last long, and it was soon removed from the app store. At Engadget, we were excited by the news last week that Flappy Bird will return to devices in 2025. But there is one person who is not excited: Dong Nguyen, the creator of Flappy Bird. He confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that he is not involved in the new version and does not profit from it. “No, I have nothing to do with their game, I don’t sell anything, and I don’t endorse cryptocurrency,” he said.
No, I have nothing to do with their games, I don’t sell anything.
I don’t support cryptocurrencies either.
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) September 15, 2024
The team developing the new version of Flappy Bird publicly describes itself as “a new team of passionate fans.” Nguyen’s trademark was allegedly abandoned and acquired free of charge by Gametech Holdings LLC. The new team then acquired the rights to Flappy Bird from Gametech.
Nguyen would not have been able to revive the game on his own. He released the original game in May 2013, and when it became a huge hit in January of the following year, he earned about $50,000 a day from advertising. However, he deleted the game just one month later, saying, “I can’t take it anymore.” In an interview with Forbes at the time, Nguyen explained, “Flappy Bird was designed to be played for a few minutes when you want to relax. But it has become an addictive product. I think that’s the problem. The best way to solve that problem is to delete Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.”
