Flappy Bird to return a decade after its viral rise and fall

It’s been more than 10 years since mobile game Flappy Bird went from mobile game obscurity to viral hit to an albatross for its creator, Dong Nguyen. Since then, other developers looking to cash in on the game’s success have created hundreds of clones. Later this year, Flappy Bird will return officially under new ownership.

You can thank the Flappy Bird Foundation, self-described as a “new team of passionate fans committed to sharing the game with the world,” for the return of Nguyen’s Flappy Bird. The Flappy Bird Foundation has acquired the official game’s trademark rights, as well as rights to the game and characters in Piou Piou vs. Cactus, the 2011 game which Flappy Bird is believed to have been inspired by.

The new Flappy Bird is coming to multiple unannounced platforms this fall, with Android and iOS versions planned for 2025. According to an earlier version of the project’s Linktree page, the new Flappy Bird will initially be playable exclusively on messaging service Telegram, a detail that has since been removed. Polygon has reached out to the Flappy Bird Foundation for more details and will update when the company responds.

Unlike the original, which was a simple, straightforward game focused on high scores and quick reflexes, the new Flappy Bird appears to be much more robust, with new game modes, character skins, progression, and multiplayer challenges. The Flappy Bird Foundation team says it will “revamp the game’s ecosystem while maintaining the familiarity of the game design that was enjoyed globally.”

“We are beyond excited to be bringing back Flappy Bird and delivering a fresh experience that will keep players engaged for years to come. We have big plans for our little Bird!” said Michael Roberts, the chief creative behind the new Flappy Bird, in a news release.

Nguyen’s Flappy Bird launched in 2013, and took off the following year. By the end of January 2014, Flappy Bird became the most downloaded game on Apple’s App Store, racking up more than 50 million downloads. But in February of that year, the game’s creator would delete Flappy Bird, following allegations of plagiarized gameplay and designs. Nguyen cited the stress of notoriety and concerns over players being addicted to the game. Hundreds of clones would take the original game’s place, many of which were technically superior but lacked the simple, unassuming charm of Flappy Bird.