Last week, the Flappy Bird Foundation announced the return of the mobile game "Flappy Bird." However, Dong Nguyen, the original developer of Flappy Bird, denied any involvement with the project, stating that it was not a true comeback and he was not associated with it. Nguyen posted on X (his first post since 2017) that he had "not sold anything and does not support cryptocurrencies." In the announcement shared with media last week, the Flappy Bird Foundation claimed they had "obtained the rights from Gametech Holdings, LLC," who acquired the trademark from Nguyen, but it appears this was not a result of a transaction between him and the organization.

X user Samperson discovered that Gametech filed a challenge to Nguyen's Flappy Bird trademark in 2023. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office determined the trademark had been abandoned and terminated Nguyen's claim to it in January this year. While the Flappy Bird Foundation did not mention Nguyen's involvement in their announcement, they have been actively leveraging players' nostalgia in their promotional efforts for the game.

Hidden website pages from the Flappy Bird Foundation suggest that cryptocurrency may play a role in the game's release. In a September 12 blog post, researcher Varun Biniwale discovered a now-offline page on the website that stated Flappy Bird "will be flying higher than ever on Solana, as it takes flight to Web 3.0." The page also mentioned that it would be a "Web3 game" with "play-to-earn" features, and alluded to "stake to own" and "free airdrops." (Cointelegraph)