Flappy Bird makes a "return" to the Ton ecosystem after ten years. Can it replicate the legendary success of the past?

Author: Zen, PANews

On September 12, the well-known entertainment and gaming media site IGN reported that the Flappy Bird Foundation has purchased the trademark and copyright of the viral mobile game "Flappy Bird" and plans to relaunch it in 2025 with new modes and characters added to the classic game. On the same day, the Flappy Bird Foundation also posted on the X platform stating "I AM BACK!!", but did not disclose specific details about the game. Nevertheless, it immediately garnered attention in the gaming community, with the tweet's views quickly surpassing 7 million, showcasing the game's influence.

"Official news! Flappy Bird has landed on Telegram!" On September 16, the Flappy Bird Foundation announced on the X platform that the new game officially debuted as a Web3 version on the currently popular Ton blockchain network. However, the external interest in this news has significantly decreased—many traditional players had already learned from social media that the "new Flappy Bird" is highly related to cryptocurrency, seemingly dampening their enthusiasm.

Controversial "Suspicious" Comeback

During its decade of silence, "Flappy Bird" became one of the most cloned games in history, and its return sparked interest among many old players, including cybersecurity researcher Varun Biniwale, who immediately began researching the new game. In an article subsequently published by Varun, he stated that "the comeback of Flappy Bird is somewhat suspicious."

The article pointed out that the original developer of Flappy Bird has no connection to the new game, and the project website contains elements of cryptocurrency and "Web 3.0." He also uncovered a page that appears to have been deleted from last year, which promoted the game as follows: "The legendary Flappy Bird is back, and it will fly higher than ever on Solana, as it has entered Web3.0." This indicates that the Flappy Bird Foundation had intended to launch within the Solana ecosystem when it experienced a surge at the end of last year, rather than the current Ton.

After the news of "Flappy Bird's" return spread, the original developer Dong Nguyen, who had not posted content on the X platform for seven years, tweeted to clarify that he has no relationship with the "new Flappy Bird," stating that he has not sold anything and does not support cryptocurrency.

Additionally, old players of "Flappy Bird" left community notes on the related content released by the Flappy Bird Foundation, reminding other players that this new game is not the same as the original, with some comments being quite sharp. For example, under the official announcement tweet of Flappy Bird landing on Telegram, there was a note warning: "This seems to be a cryptocurrency scam, exploiting fans' nostalgia for the game to sell NFTs."

Regarding the trademark issue of the game, some court documents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show that a U.S. company named Gametech Holdings has filed a lawsuit against Dong Nguyen for the game's trademark. It turns out that due to Flappy Bird being shelved for too long, the game was considered abandoned, allowing Gametech Holdings to obtain the trademark rights for free, while the "inaction" of Nguyen, who was criticized by old players, never attempted to reclaim the trademark. After obtaining the trademark, Gametech Holdings ultimately transferred it to the so-called Flappy Bird Foundation.

How Popular Was "Flappy Bird"?

"Flappy Bird" is a casual mobile game released in May 2013, developed by Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen. The mechanics of this viral mini-game are very simple; players only need to control a bird named Faby by tapping the screen to adjust its flying height to avoid hitting pipes, with the score depending on the number of pipes passed. Nguyen completed the game in just two to three days.

In early 2014, just like later mini-games on WeChat such as "Jump Jump" and "Sheep A Sheep" that quickly became popular, "Flappy Bird" saw a sudden surge in popularity, becoming the most downloaded free iOS game on the App Store by the end of January. During this period, "Flappy Bird" was earning $50,000 daily through in-app ads and sales.

On February 10, 2014, "Flappy Bird" was removed from the App Store and Google Play. According to Dong Nguyen himself, he felt guilty about the game's addictiveness and overuse. With fame comes controversy; "Flappy Bird" was also met with much criticism at the time, including claims of excessive difficulty, graphics and game mechanics allegedly being copied, and its high addictiveness.

However, even after "Flappy Bird" was taken down, some players could not "kick the habit," leading to phones with the game installed before its removal being sold online at high prices. The "clone versions" of "Flappy Bird" that rushed to launch afterward also became very popular on the App Store, but both Apple and Google removed them from their app stores due to their similarity to the original game.

Airdrop Only, Absolutely No NFT Sales!

Perhaps in response to the criticism of "exploiting fans' nostalgia for the game to sell NFTs," the Flappy Bird Foundation has recently emphasized multiple times that the new game "will never have NFTs." Players' concerns are not unfounded. It is understood that the leader behind the Flappy Bird Foundation is game designer Michael Roberts, who is also the founder of the NFT project "Deez," which launched in September 2021.

According to the Flappy Bird Foundation, players can choose to "integrate Web3" while playing the game on Telegram, but users can also opt out. Furthermore, the version of the game that will be released on mobile platforms in the future will not include cryptocurrency features and is guaranteed to be free forever.

According to Cointelegraph, the new version of the game will make money through in-app transactions, with its in-app purchase plan "including buying more energy and items that can change flying physics." Additionally, a spokesperson from the production team behind the new game stated: "The game will also generate revenue from in-game ads," adding that the in-game ads "are completely optional for players to watch" and provide benefits such as score multipliers.

Currently, the game is running a "Flap to Earn" promotional event and promises future airdrops of $FLAP tokens. With the recent airdrops of popular Ton ecosystem projects like Catizen and Hamster Kombat, the entry of the Web3 version of "Flappy Bird" seems to signify a takeover of the baton. The success of the original game and the player base it built indeed provide strong confidence for the subsequent development of the new version.

However, on one hand, well-known traditional game IPs are both a gimmick and a burden, and the resistance of traditional players to Web3 and cryptocurrency is not new. On the other hand, with community dissatisfaction arising after the airdrops of several major projects in the Ton ecosystem, whether users can still have confidence to participate remains uncertain.