Flappy Bird creator disavows crypto spin-off

Tweet by @flappy_bird: "I AM BACK!! 

Just a decade ago, I was the talk of the town and soaring to new heights with my 100 million friends. Sadly, I had to leave the fame and spotlight behind to go home and find out who I really am.

Thanks to my super Flappy Bird® fans, I’m refreshed, reinvigorated, and ready to soar again. The decade-long mission involved acquiring legal rights and even working with my predecessor to uncage me and re-hatch the official Flappy Bird® game!" A community note adds: "The new Flappy Bird is not made by the original creator Dong Nguyen.
Gametech Holdings has acquired the trademark for Flappy Bird."Tweet by @flappy_bird (attribution)
A blockchain-based version of the 2014 hit game Flappy Bird has emerged, taking advantage of the recent "tap-to-earn" crypto craze. The @flappy_bird Twitter account posted "I AM BACK!!" on September 12, with a video compilation showing people playing the original game. The tweet also claimed they were "working with [Flappy Bird's] predecessor", leading many to believe that the original Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen was involved with the project.

Nguyen famously removed the game from app stores shortly after it surged to popularity, stating that he felt guilty that people were becoming addicted to the game. This makes the game's reappearance — complete with loot boxes and other addictive features — feel somewhat dark.

On September 15, Nguyen returned from a seven-year Twitter hiatus to post: "No, I have no related with their game. I did not sell anything. I also don't support crypto."

Although Nguyen held the Flappy Bird trademark, he did not sell it to this group. Instead, they registered the trademark themselves after arguing he had abandoned it.