Flappy Bird creator says he's got nothing to do with the game's zombie comeback—'I did not sell anything'

Flappy Bird (2024) key art - a flapping cartoon bird

(Image credit: Flappy Bird Foundation)

Last week brought the unexpected news that Flappy Bird, the 2014 viral hit, is making a comeback. But the game's creator Dong Nguyen was notably absent from the announcement, and the more you look into the apparent reboot the murkier it gets. Trademark shenanigans, a new "foundation" behind the relaunch, and the unmistakeable whiff of crypto: oh my.

Now Nguyen has made his first public statement in seven years, confirming he has no involvement with this relaunch of Flappy Bird, and doesn't believe he's sold any rights.

From here we get to the Flappy Bird Foundation, "a new team of passionate fans committed to sharing the game with the world" who claim to have "spearheaded the acquisition of the official trademark." This is the outfit behind the relaunch of Flappy Bird. The key figure behind both Gametech and the Flappy Bird Foundation is one Michael Roberts, a developer who seems to have a big interest in NFTs and crypto and describes themselves as the "chief creative" behind the game's return.

The Flappy Bird Foundation is trying to make it sound like this is something heroic: "The decade-long mission involved acquiring legal rights and even working with my predecessor to uncage me and rehatch the official Flappy Bird game!" The confusing reference to "my predecessor" relates to a game called Piou Piou with similar mechanics that predated Flappy Bird, whose creator has been roped-in to this project to lend a sort of veneer of historical legitimacy.

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."