Remember Flappy Bird , the frustratingly impossibly hard iPhone game that had all of the mobile gaming world swearing, throwing handsets, and bragging about insanely low level achievements?
When Flappy Bird was yoinked from the app stores in which it was doing brisk sales a few months back, speculation abounded… and a small black market popped up.
Rumors of phones with Flappy Bird downloaded to them fetching astronomical sums in the wake of the title’s retirement proliferated, and it seemed as soon as the game was everywhere, it was mysteriously gone.
At the time of the game’s sudden withdrawal from the mobile gaming market, the prevailing reason given by creator Don Nguyen was that the globally famous Flappy Bird was “too addictive,” and its popularity caused him to pull the distracting title.
Back then, Nguyen was checking a sweet 50 Gs a day from ad revenue thanks to Flappy Bird, causing fans to speculate that the creation’s more than modest resemblance to earlier NES games prompted Nintendo to resent its success… and get a litigious itch.
Nguyen denied the rumors. And for months, we’ve been hearing that Flappy Bird will rise again.
In March, we learned from Nguyen that a return was planned for the popular game, and he tweeted:
@painfullpacman Yes. But not soon.
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) March 19, 2014
Yesterday, we got a bit more to go on when it comes to the return of Flappy Bird .
CNBC’s Donna Burton, of the Closing Bell show, spoke with the elusive game designer over the planned resurrection of Flappy Bird . Burton tweeted some early details, noting that the re-release is expected in August — and that the new version will be multiplayer:
#FlappyBird creator bringing game back. Tells @Kelly_Evans it will be multi-player, less addictive. #CNBC
— Donna Burton (@DonnaBurton) May 14, 2014
Addicted to #FlappyBird ? You are one of many — and @Kelly_Evans talks EXCL w creator Dong Nguyen at 440! #CNBC pic.twitter.com/2XA93iZxN2
— Donna Burton (@DonnaBurton) May 14, 2014
She also said more Flappy Bird like games are on the horizon, hinting about an additional title to come:
#Flappybird creator says he is creating lots of #games . Next one guy jumping from building to buildings. #CNBC
— Donna Burton (@DonnaBurton) May 14, 2014
Market Watch speculates that a return of the title will quash a thriving black market for original copies of Flappy Bird :
“Completed auction details on eBay showed a ‘Flappy’ enabled 16GB iPhone 5 sold on Wednesday for $305, while another iPhone 5 sold for $355 last weekend with 31 bidders fighting it out. Some iPhone 4?s could be had for around $100. Earlier in the month, though, four bidders scrapped over a 64GB iPhone 5, with the winner paying $1,280 just for the rights to play ‘Flappy.’”
Flappy Bird ‘s August return has not yet been given a specific date.
[Images: Bing]