Bird Game 3 is all over TikTok, but if you’re sitting here wondering why you’ve never heard of the first or second game, there’s a reason for that. Bird Game 3 isn’t real, but you wouldn’t know that immediately from the way people are talking about the game.
The clips flying about are as funny as they are convincing. One snippet, which gained 8.8 million views in two days, shows footage of an apparent fighting game in which an eagle dukes it out against a pigeon. The video is mostly one guy crashing out after he loses to the pigeon in a fight that he claims is deeply unfair. “That is so cheap, you just spam pecks!” the unseen player screeches. “Who even plays pigeon??”
Though it’s only a few seconds long, it has all the makings of a viral video. The exchange sounds as believable, like something you might hear in a Call of Duty lobby. “Easy claps, man, get out of my game,” the pigeon main retorts.
A keen observer might notice things that seem off, though. The bottom right UI is a nonsensical collection of equipment and power-ups that aren’t even real words. The top part of the screen shows a score that implies the two birds have fought 13 separate times, which is not really how a fighting game would typically work. The graphics are crude, and the pigeon seems to unceremoniously fall to the ground when the match is over. For some reason, the game is prompting the pigeon to loot a body that isn’t there — except the pigeon seems frozen in place.
But even if smart viewers catch on to the fact Bird Game 3 isn’t a tangible experience, the clip is also an excellent summation of why the idea of an avian game has caught on like it has. There’s something deeply silly about the idea of Bird Game 3, and that makes it easy to joke about without pushing into the threshold of disbelief. If something like Goat Simulator or Mage Arena can exist, why not Bird Game 3?
People are thus running with the idea of building out an entire cinematic universe where Bird Game has been a long-standing franchise. “Kids nowadays wont survive Bird Game 3 lobbies in 2011,” one TikTok proclaims. Another video showcases a simulcast where fans are losing it after Geoff Keighley awards Bird Game 3 Game of the Year. People have come up with an announcement for the first game, and failed spinoff titles leading up to Bird Game 3. There’s camcorder footage of a midnight release for an older Bird Game title. There are obligatory clips of podcast hosts discussing unsubstantiated leaks of Bird Game 3. You’d better believe there are TikToks of Twitch streamers cracking open eggs for viewers, much like they would loot boxes. No game would be complete without guides on the most optimal way to play, would it?
Hilariously, nearly every clip shows a different genre of game. There are videos where Bird Game 3 is a MOBA, a shooter, and an MMO, among other things. In most of them, people are playing pigeons and trash-talking folks who main hummingbirds. Plenty of other birds appear, like crows, cardinals, and seagulls. The circumstances are always slightly different, but they all anchor themselves through experiences that will be familiar to anyone who plays video games. In one video, for example, it’s a flock of birds coming together to mourn the imminent shutdown of an online world. In another, an esports caster excitedly gives a play by play of an impressive maneuver.
While some people don’t bother with making Bird Game 3‘s believability bulletproof, others seem intent on convincing people it is real. In one TikTok, for instance, we can see someone turning on a TV hooked up to an Xbox 360. They hold the controller up to the viewer, as if trying to say, See? It’s legit.
“Bro what i thought all that shi about bird game is AI,” one amazed viewer replied in the comments. Even in TikToks where the viewer eventually realizes Bird Game 3 isn’t real, fans say that they don’t feel bad for falling victim to the hype. Seemingly everyone wishes Bird Game 3 were real.
“I know AI content is garbage but all I want to do is play Bird Game 3,” one TikTok says.
It might not be real, but Bird Game 3 readily pulls on nostalgia strings. Many clips are accompanied by the Super Mario 64 underwater music, which immediately frames the idea as a long-lost childhood favorite. BG3 is also the latest in AI-generated universes made possible by apps like Sora and Google Gemini, which can produce convincing clips and audio files on the fly. The phenomenon is reminiscent of the Italian Brainrot sensation where people came up with silly ideas for characters based on internet memes. Part of the popularity is the sticky idea, and part of it is that fans can feel authorship and ownership over an undefined world. Bird Game 3 is as much a game concept as it is a massively multiplayer fan fiction project.
Anti-AI skeptics might be tempted to shrug off things like Bird Game 3, or consider the whole thing a waste of precious resources. And while they might be right, the proverbial bird has flown out of its nest. Similar situations, like Steal the Brainrot, quickly gave rise to one of the biggest games in the world, at one point eclipsing both Roblox and Fortnite. The way things are going right now, chances that someone turns Bird Game 3 into a reality aren’t just high — it’s entirely possible this make-believe game will soon take over the world for real.
