Since yesterday, our email box has been flooded with ‘tips’ about a certain fad game right now: Flappy Bird. Evidently, it’s now on Windows Phone. So where’s the link? Where’s our coverage?

Simply put, that game – and every other iteration – is a fake or pirated copy. That’s right. If you’re playing Flappy Bird on Windows Phone, congrats, you’re playing a clone, a rip off, a stolen version of the game, something made by some neckbeard in his mom’s basement. We tweeted that out, but we’re guessing many of you missed it or aren’t on Twitter.


OMG, please stop

The funny thing is, many of you are noting how ‘bad the gameplay’ is, which is entertaining because in many ways that is Flappy Bird. But we’re not giving the link because the guy who pirated it is collecting ad revenue through ad impressions and that’s kind of lame. And yes, we reported it to Microsoft.

But let us repeat: Flappy Bird is not on Windows Phone yet. In fact, the developer of the real Flappy Bird acknowledged that he’s a bit behind right now on the port. Hey, it’s one guy making the game, we can cut him some slack.

For future reference, here’s how you can detect if a game or app is real or fake: look at the publisher. Microsoft (and every other app store) always tells you who published the game. If it’s not published by a company you know, it’s probably not the real deal. For instance, Flappy Bird is published by Gears Studio and developed by Dong Nguyen. If you see anything else as a publisher, well, it’s not the real thing.

We’ll be sure to tell you when the real Flappy Bird arrives. But for now, you’re not playing the real thing, just a bad port

Anyone who does post Store links in comments, will be deleted. So don’t do it. Also, we love you guys, but please stop tipping us on this story, kthxbai!