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The classic mobile game Flappy Bird was announced to be making a return this week, except it’s not quite the comeback you think it is.
I’m not going to ask you if you remember Flappy Bird, because of course you do, everyone does. It was a very OK mobile game that went viral about a decade ago in a way mobile games just can’t really do anymore, that eventually led to its creator Dong Nguyen removing it from the App Store completely due to the stress of its popularity and a concern over players becoming addicted to it. Earlier this week, a surprise announcement revealed that Flappy Bird is coming back, with a group called the Flappy Bird Foundation leading the charge on its return.
This group claims to be a “new team of passionate fans committed to sharing the game with the world” (via IGN), and that this new version of the game will have new modes, characters, and massive multiplayer challenges. Kek, the developer of a game called Piou Piou which Flappy Bird may or may not have copied, is also involved, but notably Flappy Bird’s creator Nguyen isn’t. As it turns out, it appears that Gametech Holdings, the company that now owns the trademark to Flappy Bird, essentially just took it as it was deemed abandoned, filing against Nguyen and taking it without having to pay the developer anything.
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