‘Flappy Bird’ Returns as Telegram Crypto Game But Creator Denies Involvement

Following days of speculation about the nature of the game’s return, it’s now official: After disappearing 10 years ago, mobile game Flappy Bird has first relaunched as a mini app on the Telegram messaging platform with an apparent token in the works on The Open Network (TON).

Flappy Bird’s return is being done in collaboration with Notcoin, the tap-to-earn Telegram game that kickstarted the craze earlier this year. Notcoin is billed as the “strategic publishing partner” for the Telegram version of the game, helping introduce the game to the TON ecosystem via its millions of players.

The Telegram launch of Flappy Bird began Monday with what’s called the “Flap-a-TON” event, which is described in a press release as “a free mining event, blending the fun of Flappy Bird’s classic gameplay with the innovation of Web3.” The game is playable now.

But the launch of a crypto-fueled Telegram version has already been deeply controversial as first hints of the pivot were discovered last week. A web-based version of the game mentioned a FLAP token on TON, as Protos noted, with plans for airdrop and staking rewards.

Another page on the official website that has apparently been removed also mentioned a Solana token, though Monday’s announcement only notes plans for TON integration. It’s unclear whether a Solana integration is planned for the future, or if plans for Solana were abandoned as Telegram became a dominant crypto gaming platform in 2024.

Blockchain games and cryptocurrency are often shunned by traditional gamers, but there’s another element to last week’s announcement that raised eyebrows: evidence that original Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen—who famously pulled the game offline in 2014 amid its overwhelming success—apparently had nothing to do with the revival.

As discovered by game developer Sam Chiet, the trademark to Flappy Bird was apparently swiped by a company called Gametech Holdings, which challenged his right to the trademark via the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and received a verdict that it had been abandoned.

In last week’s initial announcement, The Flappy Bird Foundation said that it acquired the official trademark for the classic mobile game from Gametech, along with the rights to Piou Piou vs. Cactus, an unrelated game that apparently inspired the 2014 smash hit’s main character.

Nguyen confirmed those suspicions on Sunday, emerging from a seven-year Twitter hiatus to confirm that he isn’t working on the Flappy Bird revival and did not sell the rights.

“I also don’t support crypto,” Nguyen affirmed in a tweet that has been viewed millions of times.

Nguyen’s comment only amplified the backlash against the Flappy Bird revival, which is credited in a press release to “Chief Creative” Michael Roberts, who previously spearheaded the NFT project Deez. Roberts had previously tweeted in February 2023 that he had become an “owner  of the brand/game Flappy Bird,” and was working to “bring it into Web3.”

In response to a question regarding the acquisition of the Flappy Bird brand rights and the involvement of Nguyen, the Foundation sent Decrypt’s GG the following response:

“The Flappy Bird Foundation Group is the rightful owner of the Flappy Bird trademark. The brand and community were abandoned in 2014, and in 2018, the trademark registration was awarded by the United States Patent and Trademark Office to Mobile Media Partners, Inc. Gametech Holdings, LLC later acquired the rights, and on August 23, 2024, the Flappy Bird Foundation Group acquired the trademark rights from Gametech Holdings, LLC. The acquisition was conducted through a fully legal and transparent process, ensuring that the game’s revival is both legitimate and respectful of its history.”

The Foundation did not specifically respond to questions regarding Nguyen.

Flappy return

Flappy Bird’s imminent revival was first announced last week, with the viral mobile game—which tasks users with guiding a pixel bird through an obstacle course of pipes—teased to return in some form this year ahead of dedicated iOS and Android apps in 2025.

With this relaunch of the game, the Flappy Bird Foundation promised “new game modes, characters, progression, and massive multiplayer challenges.” Initial screenshots showcased new battle royale and basketball modes, along with fresh characters to use.

“Telegram, as a platform, has proven to be a hub for communities that thrive on interaction, which aligns perfectly with our vision for bringing Flappy Bird into the Web3 space,” a spokesperson told Decrypt’s GG.

“By launching Flappy Bird on Telegram first, we’re able to connect with an engaged audience that’s excited about gaming and blockchain integration,” they continued. “Pairing the robust support from the TON community with the current infrastructure on Telegram has effectively provided us with the ideal launchpad for Flappy Bird.”

Flappy Bird will be the second game launched via the Notcoin platform following the discontinuation of the original tap-to-earn experience and the launch of the NOT token on TON in May. Notcoin launched a narrative game based on the Lost Dogs NFT project last month, and that experience concluded its tale last week.

“Notcoin has a deep connection with the gaming community on TON,” the Flappy Bird Foundation spokesperson said, “and partnering with them allows us to honor Flappy Bird’s legacy from its Web2 roots while expanding into new areas of innovation.”

The Foundation rep said that Flappy Bird will “always remain a free-to-play game,” but that they “fully intend to integrate TON into the game’s ecosystem as part of future updates.”

“With the launch of Season 1 of our mining event, players will have opportunities to earn TON through gameplay,” they said, “but our immediate goal is to enhance the player experience and keep the community engaged as we roll out new features.”

In 2014, indie developer Nguyen took the world by storm with the release of Flappy Bird. Quickly, the game attracted 50 million downloads, topped the charts in 100 countries, and raked in $50,000 a day from ads. 

But Nguyen wasn’t happy. “I can call Flappy Bird a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it,” he said on Twitter, soon deleting Flappy Bird from the App Store. This only caused the bird craze to grow stronger, with devices that had the app still downloaded eventually selling for up to $90,000.

Since then, we’ve seen multiple knockoffs of the iconic mobile game—including a crypto-native copycat—but none were quite the real deal. While the new version is called Flappy Bird, we’ll see whether gamers consider this rendition to be the real deal given its origins.

Flappy Bird is coming back as a Telegram mini app as part of the TON crypto gaming ecosystem that has seen explosive growth across 2024, mostly via tap-to-earn games. Hamster Kombat, for example, claims to have amassed over 300 million players as players tap the screen and expand their virtual crypto exchange in the hopes of earning token rewards.

Notcoin was the first mover for the trend, garnering 35 million players between January and March and eventually launching a token that blasted to a $2.97 billion peak market cap, making it the largest crypto gaming token launch of the year. Hamster Kombat and other popular Telegram games Catizen and Rocky Rabbit will debut their own tokens by month’s end.