Last week, a group calling itself the “Flappy Bird Foundation” announced to the press that it had acquired the trademark rights to the mobile hit Flappy Bird from Gametech Holdings and that it intended to rerelease the game later this year on web browsers, iOS, and Android.
Initially, as you might expect, the news was greeted with a bunch of enthusiasm online, with fans happy to see the game return after a decade away, but soon questions started to be raised about whether its creator Dong Nguyen had willingly sold the rights and why there were a bunch of hidden references to Web3 and NFTs on its new website that weren’t disclosed in its announcement.
Now, Nguyen has broken his social media silence of over seven years to confirm his lack of involvement in the project and claims that he never sold anything. Writing on Twitter, he states: “No, I have no related with their game. I did not sell anything. I also don’t support crypto.”
What’s interesting about Nguyen’s statement is that it would appear to suggest that the Flappy Bird Foundation has only acquired the trademark of Flappy Bird and not the rights to any of its copyrighted material.
If this is the case, this would mean that the Flappy Bird Foundation would be able to release a game under the title “Flappy Bird”, but that it couldn’t just be a copy of the original or risk infringing on the rights of the current copyright holder (which Nguyen is suggesting is still him).
We’ve reached out to Michael Roberts on LinkedIn, who is an individual who is said to be involved with this latest venture, to see whether they have any comment on this latest development and will update you if we hear anything back.
Go on.... treat yourself to a new game.
2 Comments
Wow, this whole Flappy Bird situation just got a lot more complicated. It’s wild to think that after all this time, Dong Nguyen is still the one holding the rights to the game. The Flappy Bird Foundation claiming they bought the trademark but not the actual game rights? That’s a major twist.
I mean, who really wants to play a Flappy Bird game that isn’t the original? And the whole crypto angle? Ugh, that just adds another layer of confusion. It’s like, can we just have the classic game back without all these weird complications?
Nguyen’s tweet makes it clear he’s not on board with this new venture, so it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. Can they really release a game under that name without getting into legal trouble? Fingers crossed we get some clarity soon!
Wow, this is a wild turn of events! It’s crazy to think that after all these years, Flappy Bird could make a comeback, but now it seems like there’s a lot more drama behind the scenes. Nguyen’s statement really raises some eyebrows—if he hasn’t sold the rights, then what exactly does the Flappy Bird Foundation think they’re doing?
I mean, acquiring just the trademark sounds like a risky move. They might be able to slap the name on something, but without the original game mechanics or assets, it could end up being a total flop. Plus, the whole crypto angle just feels like a cash grab. Fans just want the classic game back, not a Web3 experiment! Guess we’ll have to wait and see how this unfolds, but I’m definitely curious about what Nguyen will do next.