September 14, 2024 | 4:41pm
MANILA, Philippines — The viral video game “Flappy Bird” is making a surprise return to devices a decade since it was taken off online stores.
In 2013, Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen created the game with a simple premise — tap the screen or button to make a bird flap their wings in between pipes.
The game slowly grew in popularity resulting in millions of downloads, but the world was caught by surprise in early 2014 when Nguyen announced he was pulling the game despite earning thousands from downloads, apologizing for the addictiveness he may have caused.
At the time, mobile phones and devices that still had “Flappy Bird” installed were sold at a much higher price, speaking to the game’s continued favor.
Now a new version of the game is set to drop courtesy of “The Flappy Bird Foundation,” which is “a new team of passionate fans committed to sharing the game with the world” according to an IGN report.
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The new developers said it had acquired the Flappy Bird trademark from Gametech Holdings LLC, the American company that originally held it after Nguyen, as well as the rights for the game and the “Piou Piou vs. Cactus” character, which supposedly inspired “Flappy Bird.”
Nguyen for his part has remained quiet on social media and has no apparent involvement in this new version.
“We are beyond excited to be bringing back ‘Flappy Bird’ and delivering a fresh experience that will keep players engaged for years to come. We have big plans for our little Bird!” said Michael Roberts, one of the people behind the new game.
This new version will have more playable characters and game modes beyond the original’s basic tapping. A web version arrives at the end of October, while a mobile version will hit online stores sometime next year.
While many celebrated the return of “Flappy Bird,” some threw caution as it does not involve Nguyen and barely connects to the original game itself.
Additionally on X, formerly Twitter, a context post informs users the new version “has no relation to the original creators and seems to be a crypto scam/using fans nostalgia for the game to sell NFTs.”
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