Flappy Bird will ‘never have’ NFTs but will have a crypto ‘option’

The team behind the revived mobile hit Flappy Bird has confirmed that the new version will give users the option to use Web3 but will not touch non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The new game was first revealed earlier this month, and hidden pages on a website for the game suggested it had links to crypto, which wasn’t confirmed until after it launched on Sept. 16.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, a spokesperson from the Flappy Bird Foundation confirmed the game “will have Web3 integrations” when played through the messaging app Telegram, but users there can opt out of them.

“There will be future releases without crypto features on mobile platforms,” the spokesperson said, adding all Flappy Bird releases “will always be 100% free to play.”

The spokesperson said the game “will never have NFTs,” echoing a Sept. 23 X post from the Flappy Bird team, which added that no crypto wallet would be required to play.

Source: Flappy Bird

The spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the game would make money from in-app transactions and that its plans for in-app purchases would “include buying more energy and items that can change flight physics.”

It will also get money from in-game advertisements, which the spokesperson said is “entirely optional to watch” and gives players perks like score multipliers.

The new Flappy Bird launched as a Telegram Mini App and is a re-hash of the original viral hit side-scrolling mobile game released in May 2013, where players guide a bird’s flight through green pipes by tapping their phone screen.

Hidden website pages for the Flappy Bird Foundation’s game found by researcher Varun Biniwale earlier this month showed that crypto would play a role in the game, with mentions of a “$FLAP token” and a play-to-earn game model.

The game is currently running a “flap-to-earn” promo — that was also found by Biniwale — and promises a future airdrop with no specific mention of a token.

The game offers in-game rewards for connecting a crypto wallet, but can be played without. Source: Flappy Bird

Some web pages mentioned a launch on the Solana blockchain, but the foundation’s spokesperson has clarified that onchain features would be released on Telegram’s linked blockchain, The Open Network (TON).

Meanwhile, the game’s original creator Dong Nguyen has distanced himself from the game, adding he doesn’t support crypto. Nguyen pulled the game in 2014, nine months after he released it, and later told Forbes that it was because it had become “an addictive product.”

The Flappy Bird Foundation acquired rights to Flappy Bird from Gametech Holdings LLC — which won the rights to it in January after opposing Nguyen’s hold on the trademark, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) determined Nguyen abandoned it and terminated his claim.