The Tetris Company: Difference between revisions
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== History == | == History == | ||
In 1996 the rights to Tetris that [[Alexey Pajitnov]] had granted to [[Elorg]] expired. When the Blue Planet Software was founded, negotiations were made with Alexey Pajitnov to form a new company with existing Tetris IP and trademark owner Elorg | In 1996 the rights to Tetris that [[Alexey Pajitnov]] had granted to [[Elorg]] expired. When the Blue Planet Software was founded, negotiations were made with Alexey Pajitnov to form a new company with existing Tetris IP and trademark owner Elorg<ref>{{cite web | ||
|url=http://www.arkmay.com/tetris/articles/alexey.html | |url=http://www.arkmay.com/tetris/articles/alexey.html | ||
|first=Monika | |first=Monika | ||
| Line 33: | Line 22: | ||
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010503225252/http://www.arkmay.com/tetris/articles/alexey.html | |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010503225252/http://www.arkmay.com/tetris/articles/alexey.html | ||
|archive-date=2001-05-03 | |archive-date=2001-05-03 | ||
}} | }} </ref>. The two companies became 50/50 owners of The Tetris Company. On January 21, 2005, ELORG's share was sold to [[Henk Rogers]] for 15 million dollars. The rights to Tetris were put in a new company called Tetris Holding, owned 50/50 by Henk Rogers and Alexey Pajitnov. | ||
|url=http://www.abednarz.net/tetris.html | ==Copyright and IP enforcement== | ||
|author=Bed | |||
|title=The Tetris Company's Activities | === Late 1990s to very early 2010s=== | ||
|date=2000-10-27 | Since the late 1990s, The Tetris company was aggressive in removing unlicened Tetris clones from distribution by sending cease-and-desist letters claiming that such versions of Tetris violate copyright and trademark infringement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abednarz.net/tetris.html |author=Bed |title=The Tetris Company's Activities |date=2000-10-27 |access-date=2019-09-10|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021013135941/http://www.abednarz.net/tetris.html |archive-date=2002-10-13 }}</ref> | ||
|access-date=2019-09-10 | |||
|url-status=dead | In 2012, The Tetris Company sued Xio Interactive because they claimed the Tetris clone Mino infringed on several copyrightable elements, such as the shapes of the blocks and the matrix size.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-06/20/tetris-clone-ruling |title=US judge declares Tetris clone 'infringing' |author=Brown, Mark |date=2012-06-20 |publisher=[[Wired UK]] |accessdate=2012-07-01}}</ref> | ||
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021013135941/http://www.abednarz.net/tetris.html | |||
|archive-date=2002-10-13 | ===Early 2010s-present=== | ||
}} | |||
In 2014, Casey Pelkey (the Vice President and Marketing of [[Tetris Online, Inc.]]) stated that they take down "counterfeit Tetris" games if they are not well received by the community: | |||
{{quote |It would be dishonest to say Tetris hasn't been copied many times over. So, the point here is is that The Tetris Company is well aware of where counterfeit Tetris products happen, but they've created such a high standard for the way that the Tetris game works is that they can always feel rest assured that the games that are being made out there that are not authentic Tetris do not live up to the standards that the fans of Tetris expect, and that's really why the Tetris brand as it's been presented as an official brand has outlasted the competition.| Casey Pelkey<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFPzJaJuHQk&t=592s |title=Building a Pop Culture Phenomenon: 30 Years of Tetris <nowiki>|</nowiki> Casey PELKEY |author=GameDaily Connect |date=2014-08-21 |publisher=[[Youtube]]}}</ref>}} | |||
An example to show this can be shown with two Steam games, [[TETRUX: Online]] and [[Tetra Online ]]. | |||
In the case of TETRUX: Online, the game was well received. Despite being a paid game, it has an overall review of "Very Positive," and players liked the game as it reminded them of older games like [[Tetris (Game Boy)]] [https://steamcommunity.com/id/brN83/recommended/688770/ (example)]. Because of the positive reception, the game is still accessible to play on the Steam Store. | |||
On the other hand, the game Tetra Online was not as well received. Upon release, players left negative reviews on the game, stating that other fangames (such as Tetrio and Jstris) | |||
were more [https://steamcommunity.com/id/saltypepp_r/recommended/1355230/ polished] as well as having [https://steamcommunity.com/id/apalapan/recommended/1355230/ better handling]. These reviews are brought the game's overall rating to "Mixed," which led to The Tetris Company sending an DMCA notice to the game's developers 9 days after its release. | |||
== See also == | |||
*[[Electronorgtechnica|Elorg]] | |||
*[[Bullet-Proof Software]] | |||
*[[Blue Planet Software]] | |||
*[[Tetris Online, Inc.]] | |||
*[[Tetris Online Japan, Inc.]] | |||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
*[http://www.tetris.com/ Tetris.com] - Official website | *[http://www.tetris.com/ Tetris.com] - Official website | ||
== References == | |||
* Sheffield, Brandon. "Alexey Pajitnov, Master of Shapes." <u>Game Developer</u> Sep. 2006: 10 . | |||
Revision as of 07:32, 1 July 2021
| |
| Founded | June, 1996 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Bellevue, Washington |
| Key people | Henk Rogers (Founder) Alexey Pajitnov (Founder) |
| Website | tetris.com |
The Tetris Company, or TTC, is the exclusive licensee for the Tetris brand. Licensed games would start to follow a Tetris Guideline maintained by Blue Planet Software and include TTC's "Authentic Tetris Game" seal.
History
In 1996 the rights to Tetris that Alexey Pajitnov had granted to Elorg expired. When the Blue Planet Software was founded, negotiations were made with Alexey Pajitnov to form a new company with existing Tetris IP and trademark owner Elorg[1]. The two companies became 50/50 owners of The Tetris Company. On January 21, 2005, ELORG's share was sold to Henk Rogers for 15 million dollars. The rights to Tetris were put in a new company called Tetris Holding, owned 50/50 by Henk Rogers and Alexey Pajitnov.
Copyright and IP enforcement
Late 1990s to very early 2010s
Since the late 1990s, The Tetris company was aggressive in removing unlicened Tetris clones from distribution by sending cease-and-desist letters claiming that such versions of Tetris violate copyright and trademark infringement.[2]
In 2012, The Tetris Company sued Xio Interactive because they claimed the Tetris clone Mino infringed on several copyrightable elements, such as the shapes of the blocks and the matrix size.[3]
Early 2010s-present
In 2014, Casey Pelkey (the Vice President and Marketing of Tetris Online, Inc.) stated that they take down "counterfeit Tetris" games if they are not well received by the community:
It would be dishonest to say Tetris hasn't been copied many times over. So, the point here is is that The Tetris Company is well aware of where counterfeit Tetris products happen, but they've created such a high standard for the way that the Tetris game works is that they can always feel rest assured that the games that are being made out there that are not authentic Tetris do not live up to the standards that the fans of Tetris expect, and that's really why the Tetris brand as it's been presented as an official brand has outlasted the competition.— Casey Pelkey[4]
An example to show this can be shown with two Steam games, TETRUX: Online and Tetra Online .
In the case of TETRUX: Online, the game was well received. Despite being a paid game, it has an overall review of "Very Positive," and players liked the game as it reminded them of older games like Tetris (Game Boy) (example). Because of the positive reception, the game is still accessible to play on the Steam Store.
On the other hand, the game Tetra Online was not as well received. Upon release, players left negative reviews on the game, stating that other fangames (such as Tetrio and Jstris) were more polished as well as having better handling. These reviews are brought the game's overall rating to "Mixed," which led to The Tetris Company sending an DMCA notice to the game's developers 9 days after its release.
See also
External links
- Tetris.com - Official website
References
- Sheffield, Brandon. "Alexey Pajitnov, Master of Shapes." Game Developer Sep. 2006: 10 .
- ↑ Guttman, Monika "Putting the puzzle pieces back together: Alexey Pajitnov has a new game plan for Tetris.". U.S. News & World Report. 1996-06-10. Archived from the original on 2001-05-03. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
- ↑ Bed "The Tetris Company's Activities". 2000-10-27. Archived from the original on 2002-10-13. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
- ↑ Brown, Mark "US judge declares Tetris clone 'infringing'". 2012-06-20. Retrieved .
- ↑ GameDaily Connect "Building a Pop Culture Phenomenon: 30 Years of Tetris | Casey PELKEY". 2014-08-21. Retrieved .