A couple of days ago we reported that Flappy Bird was being taken down by creator Dong Nguyen and that it was speculated that perhaps Nintendo had been in contact with him. As it turns out, a Nintendo spokesperson reported to The Wall Street Journal that they had no interest in Flappy Bird and that Mr. Nguyen has not been contacted by Nintendo.
While we usually do not comment on the rumors and speculations, we have already denied the speculation.
Mr. Nguyen has admitted that Flappy Bird was inspired by Mario, but many feel that he took the inspiration to near copy-right infringement levels. The fact that Nintendo would even take the time to respond to a rumor is a testament to the amount of coverage this topic has garnered over the past couple of weeks. With Flappy Bird pulling in nearly $50,000 a day in ad revenue, many thought that perhaps it was enough for Nintendo to take notice and take action.
Now that Flappy Bird has been taken down, and it’s official that Nintendo had nothing to do with it, the matter can finally be put to rest. However, there is likely going to be many who claim that Nintendo‘s silence was as equally effective in taking down Flappy Bird as actually coming out and publicly admitting there was a problem. While there has been no word on whether a fear for legal issues prompted Flappy Bird‘s quick shutdown, there will undoubtedly be those who question Mr. Nguyen’s motives in taking down the title.