Ten Years Later, “Flappy Bird” Is Back
Flappy Bird , the viral mobile game that went off the list a decade ago, is back . The involvement of original developer Dong Nguyen is unclear, but his name does not appear anywhere on the re-release’s website, which mentions that a new team has acquired the rights to the game and is developing it for the reboot. The updated Flappy Bird promises new characters, new game modes and a progression system.
In the original Flappy Bird, you played as a bird and had to avoid falling into green pipes, much like the pipes from Super Mario Bros. You had one hit before the game ended, and this simple yet addictive gameplay took the game to the top of the App Store charts. Developer Dong Nguyen surprised everyone when he abruptly pulled the game in 2014 , tweeting (now X) “I can’t stand this anymore,” but now a group called The Flappy Bird Foundation is bringing it back.
In a note sent to press and cited by IGN , the new group said it plans to release Flappy Bird for mobile devices in 2025 (and even sooner for browsers). The group said in a statement that it acquired the trademark from Gametech Holdings LLC, a company based in the United States. It is unclear how this company acquired the trademark from the original developer.
In addition to the note and the new website, the Flappy Bird Foundation also posted a trailer on its YouTube channel showing off some of the new visuals as well as a new game mode. It’s unclear how the developers plan to monetize the game, but like other mobile games, it’s likely that the new Flappy Bird will be a free-to-play game supported by advertising, microtransactions, or both.
For me, I can’t help but wonder if Flappy Bird’s time has passed. It was a viral sensation in 2014, but after it was taken down, the clones kept it around long enough for people to get their fill and move on. However, the mobile gaming market is much larger now, and even if a game is moderately popular, that may be enough to create a larger player base today than its original version ten years ago.