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While Nguyen has no involvement with the new Flappy Bird, the Flappy Bird Foundation’s founding member is Kek, the developer of the 2011 game Piou Piou vs. Cactus. Following Flappy Bird‘s explosion in popularity, the original game began to draw comparisons to Piou Piou vs. Cactus, with many outlets noting similarities in both gameplay and character design. Speaking to Pocket Gamer in 2014, Kek pointed out these similarities, and seemed to be frustrated about the situation. However, he noted that he would not be pursuing legal action because he was unsure how strong the case might be.
Fast forward a decade, and Kek is now the owner of Flappy Bird. As Nguyen noted, he did not sell those rights; Nguyen’s rights to the game lapsed earlier this year, which is how Kek ended up with them in the first place. The announcement of this new Flappy Bird wasted no time establishing a connection to Kek’s 2011 game, with Kek noting in the press release that “It’s so cool to see how influential Piou Piou has been for developers and hundreds of millions of gamers over the years.” The trailer for the new Flappy Bird even shows playable characters flying over cactuses, just like in Piou Piou vs. Cactus.
It remains to be seen how the new Flappy Bird game will turn out, but the situation has resulted in strong feelings from gamers. Some fans of the original Flappy Bird argue that this is Flappy Bird in name only, while others are hopeful that the resulting game will be as addictive as the original.
Are you planning to check out the new Flappy Bird game? Did you play the game back in the day? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
