Tetris Launches: Pajitnov's Puzzle Game Goes Global
Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris on June 6, 1984, at the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow, programming it on an Elektronika 60 computer. The game's simple concept of fitting falling geometric shapes together was inspired by pentomino puzzles Pajitnov played as a child. Copies spread rapidly through Moscow's scientific community and then across the Iron Curtain. The licensing rights became the subject of an extraordinary Cold War business drama involving the Soviet government, a British software company, and Nintendo, which eventually secured the Game Boy rights. Tetris shipped with every Game Boy, selling over 35 million copies on that platform alone. It has been played on over 50 platforms and has sold over 520 million copies total, making it the best-selling video game of all time.
June 6, 1984
42 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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