By Todd Russell
Most, if not all, gamers on the planet have heard or played Tetris. It’s a very familiar puzzle game that has been around since the 80s.
The Tetris Company, that owns Tetris, sued Xio Interactive for copyright infringement in 2009 over the game Mino — and won.
“In 2009, Desiree Golden founded a game studio called Xio Interactive, and released a mobile game called Mino based on the gameplay of Tetris. Xio had tried to license the rights to Tetris from The Tetris Company, who refused. At that point Xio researched intellectual property law to see how to design a game similar to Tetris that would not include any legally-protected elements. The game Mino featured the same approach of using falling tetromino blocks to form complete lines on a playfield and score points. Mino also added new power-ups and game modes to the basic Tetris gameplay. The game’s marketing materials described it as a “Tetromino game” with “fast-paced, line-clearing features”, and ended with a disclaimer: “Mino and Xio Interactive are not affiliated with Tetris or the Tetris Company”. – Tetris Holding, LLC v. Xio Interactive, Inc. – Wikipedia
Ironically, in 2023, the Tetris company and Apple were sued by author Dan Ackerman of the book The Tetris Effect via Author of The Tetris Effect Sues Apple and the Tetris Company for Copyright Infringement over Release of the Tetris Movie | Wilson Sonsini (wsgr.com):
“Mr. Ackerman claims that Ms. Rogers then used his bookas the basis for developing a screenplay that eventually became the Tetris film, without seeking or obtaining a license from Mr. Ackerman to do so.1 To stifle competition while developing the Tetris film, the Tetris Company also allegedly refused to license the Tetris name or other intellectual property to Mr. Ackerman or any third parties intending to adapt The Tetris Effect for film or television.”
And yet there are clones of Tetris out there. Some really good games inspired by the puzzle game. Are you a Tetris fan? What about fan of Tetris clone games? Share some good Tetris clones in the comments.