2013 CIOPORA Chronicle

Profile
Ciopora Chronicle
sat down with
Mr Alexey Pajitnov,
the inventor of
the charmingly
simple and utterly
addictive computer
game Tetris.
How Alexey Pajitnov
regained the IP rights to
his Tetris ® computer game
Alexey Pajitnov, a Russian
scientist, created the Tetris
game on June 6, 1984,
and in its almost 30 year history,
hundreds of millions of players
worldwide have experienced
Tetris. Now, Tetris branded games
are played online and on mobile
phones all over the world, over one
billion times per month. Loved
globally by people of all ages and
all cultures, Tetris continues to be
one of the most widely recognised
and endearing video game franchises
of all time.
by Anna Kaehne (with the
kind assistance of Danny
Han, Blue Planet Software)
Mr Pajitnov, since the moment
of its creation in June of 1984,
Tetris has conquered the world
with a previously unseen speed
and range. Hundreds of millions
of Tetris branded products have
been sold since. Tetris is largely
recognised as the forerunner of
the casual game industry.
What is the unique quality that
made Tetris so successful?
“Tetris is unique because it is a
very simple game that offers both
a visual and intellectual challenge
for the player. People also seem
to appreciate its peaceful, nondistractive
style.”
The notion of Intellectual
Property was quite unfamiliar to
the citizens of the Soviet Union
as everyone used to work for
state institutions back then.
Was it self-evident to you that
the Institution you worked for
had the rights on the game?
“Intellectual property existed back
then, but the concept was unfamiliar
to people in the Soviet Union.
For example, I think music and
paintings and some other creations
were recognized as IP. With Tetris,
the Computer Center* exploited
the game in the beginning. We had
an arrangement but eventually the
rights all came back to me.”
How did the acquisition of IP
rights on Tetris go, back in 1988?
“I had a formal arrangement with
the Computer Center in the 80s
that granted them the right to
exploit Tetris around the world for
ten years. But, the rights came back
to me later on.”
Were you actively involved
in signing the rights off to the
Computer Center?
“I was somewhat involved but that
was such a long time ago. I prefer
Tetris Blitz
published
by Electronic
Arts
is a new
variant on
the TETRIS
game. It
will be
released
worldwide
for iOS and
Android
in Spring
2013.
not to think about it too much.”
Who released the first PC
version of the game in 1985?
Was there a license agreement
in force?
“Technically, I released the first PC
version after it was ported to IBM.
Basically, it was distributed to my
friends and colleagues on floppy
disks. Before I knew it, the game
had spread all over the place.”
When did you realise that the
game was a global success?
“In 1989, at our first appearance
at an industry trade show, our PC
publisher brought us about 10 or
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