Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Comes Out of Social Media Retirement to Take a Swing at GameFi

The creator of the ultra-addictive mobile-phone game Flappy Bird has disavowed plans to relaunch the title as a GameFi product in his first social media appearance since 2017.

Flappy Bird was pulled from both the Apple App Store and Google Play in February 2014 as its creator, Dong Nguyen, blamed himself for the game’s addictive nature and didn’t appreciate the fame the title’s worldwide success brought him along with allegations that he stole art and character designs from Nintendo. The game required users to keep a cartoon bird airborne as it flew between columns of pipes without hitting them.

Last year, Gametech Holdings filed a motion opposing Nguyen’s retention of the Flappy Bird trademark, arguing that it was abandoned because the game had been out of virtual stores for nearly a decade. A U.S. trademark court gave Gametech a default judgment after Nguyen failed to respond.

And now for the GameFi twist: Cybersecurity researcher Varun Biniwale spotted a number of deleted pages on the game’s website that mention Solana, TON and a $FLAP token complete with the promise of a ‘Flap-to-Earn’ mode.

One developer attached to the game, Michael Roberts, told CoinTelegraph that “more information should be unfolding here shortly” in response to questions about the game’s possible crypto connections.

Meanwhile, on X, initial press coverage of the game’s relaunch, which said the community had purchased the rights from Nguyen, was contradicted by community members noting that it was taken from him “due to inactivity” and the relaunch has nothing to do with him.