Tetris: from Russia with lots of fun

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Tetris, one of the most popular and iconic video games ever created. Designed by Alexey Pajitnov during his time at the Soviet Union’s Academy of Science, it left an indelible mark on the gaming industry.

While it was never the most beautiful game, nor the most complex, it continues to be popular amongst gamers today. Re-releases and updated versions for the NIntendo DS and iPhone have become bestsellers. In total, Tetris has sold over 125 million copies worldwide, and there is a version for practically every video-gaming machine from the past two decades.

This success came at a heavy price for many involved, most notably for Pajitnov. He made little financial gain from his creation, even during the height of its popularity. Tetris’ rise led to one of the most intensely fought legal battles in video game history. The battle began in 1986, when the game caught the eye of Robert Stein, president of the British software developer Andromeda.

Stein saw how popular Tetris had become in the Soviet Union, and planned to get the rights so that he could publish it in the West. Yet before he’d even secured a deal with Pajitnov or the Academy of Science (who, under Soviet law, owned all the rights to Pajitnov’s work) he’d already begun licensing Tetris to the British Mirrorsoft and their USA affiliate Spectrum Holobyte.

When Stein finally did approach Pajitnov and the Academy, he was rebuked by the Soviets who saw little value in distributing a video game. Rather then walk away empty-handed, Stein returned to Britain and claimed that Tetris had been invented by the Hungarian programmers, though they’d simply copied Pajitnov’s original work.

Meanwhile, a PC version of Tetris was released by Mirrorsoft. It was an overnight sensation and quickly became the best selling game the company had ever released. Soon afterwards, the game was modified for home computers. It was during this time that Stein’s actions were exposed by the US news show CBS Evening News, who revealed that it was Pajitnov, and not the Hungarians as Stein claimed, who’d created Tetris.

Realising what was happening, the Soviets began to market the rights to Tetris through a company called ELORG (Electronorgtechinca). ELORG realized that Stein had been giving out Tetris licensing rights that he didn’t actually have. Both groups met in Paris to work out the issue, where Stein was able to obtain the PC rights to Tetris. Unknown to either though, was that Spectrum and Mirrorsoft had begun to sub-license their rights. Spectrum gave the developer Bullet-Proof Software the right to make a Tetris video game in Japan, while Mirrorsoft gave Atari exactly the same rights in Japan and North America.

When this came to light, the parent company of both developers intervened and sided with Mirrorsoft. Atari began production of an arcade and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) version of Tetris. Despite this decision, Bullet-Proof Software were successful in keeping their right to publish Tetris on the Nintendo in Japan, and released their version before Atari had finished theirs.

Around the same time, Nintendo developed the Game Boy. Impressed by its popularity among all ages, the head of Nintendo America insisted that the company require the rights to package Tetris with the Game Boy for its US release. Having contacted Stein, who refused to deal with them (in no small part due to his ongoing fight with ELORG), Nintendo decided to send a representative to Moscow to deal with ELORG directly. During this meeting they impressed Pajitnov and the ELORG representatives so much that Nintendo was able to obtain the hand-held rights to Tetris. It was during this meeting that the NES version of Tetris was also shown, which completely took the ELORG representatives by surprise. They were outraged by what they saw as blatant theft by Nintendo, as they had never licensed any agreement for a console version of Tetris, only a computer version.

Nintendo explained that the rights had come from Atari, which surprised ELORG since they had never heard of the company. By 1989 more then half a dozen different companies were claiming the right to create and distribute Tetris. Tired if arguing, ELORG ruled that no one held any licensing rights and decided to redistribute them. Stein was allowed to keep the PC rights and was also given the right to an arcade version, Nintendo was allowed to publish Tetris outside of Japan, while Bullet-Proof Software would be allowed to continued to produce it in Japan (they would later make a deal with Nintendo to develop Tetris for the Game Boy).

But the legal battles over Tetris didn’t end there. In spite of ELORG’s decision, Atari tried to copyright their Tetris game for the NES, and proceeded to market and distribute it under the name TETRIS. Nintendo contacted Atari claiming they had stolen rights to Tetris. Shortly after, Nintendo were sued by…guess who? Atari. The court case lasted less than four weeks. Since ELORG never had the intention of selling the console (NES) rights to Tetris when Atari first “acquired” them, their case was meaningless, said the court. Atari was forced to recall TETRIS and destroy all their remaining copies.

In the end, there was only one big winner in the Tetris saga, and that was Nintendo. Just how much profit Nintendo made form Tetris is difficult to say, but it’s clear from its place in popular culture that their decision to bundle it with each Game Boy was a smart one.

As for Stein, he made surprisingly little from Tetris. Had Atari not lost the rights, Stein would have received millions in royalties. For their part, Mirrorsoft and Spectrum Holobyte quietly faded away. Victims of their own success, both companies were bought out and later gutted by larger competitors. But what about the man who started it all? Despite the massive success of his game, Alexey Pajitnov didn’t profit from Tetris until 1996, when the rights to the game reverted back to him, that he was finally able to enjoy the fruits of his labour. Today his company, Tetris Company LLC, holds the exclusive license for Tetris products in the US and owns trademark registrations throughout most of the world.