Flappy Bird returns on Android, now without the weird crypto stuff

More than 10 years after Flappy Bird’s viral explosion (and subsequent deletion), the game is back on Android devices, thanks to the mobile Epic Games Store. The re-release, courtesy of Flappy Bird Publishing, is an Epic Games Store for Android exclusive, and doesn’t feature any of the weird cryptocurrency stink that was hinted at last year, when Flappy Bird was strangely released through the messaging service Telegram.

In fact, Flappy Bird Publishing pointedly notes in a news release that Flappy Bird on Epic Games Store for Android is monetized “solely by ads and in-app purchases” in the form of cosmetic helmets for Flappy. The game will “never have any Web3 elements,” Flappy Bird Publishing said Tuesday.

That’s a reversal from previous plans, in which Flappy Bird’s rights holders wanted the new version of the game to be “the world’s first open-source, community owned Web 2 and Web 3 game.” An earlier attempt to bring Flappy Bird back through Telegram involved integration with crypto wallets and the TON blockchain.

Flappy Bird Publishing says it will continue to release new content for the mobile game, including “new worlds, characters, and themes throughout 2025.”

Original Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen said last year he was not involved in the revival of the game, nor does he appear to be profiting from the brand. Nguyen did not sell the game’s trademark to the Flappy Bird Foundation behind the game’s revival; the group purchased the abandoned trademark to relaunch it.

Nguyen’s version of Flappy Bird launched in 2013, and took off the following year. By the end of January 2014, Flappy Bird had become 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 famously deleted 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.