Alexey Pajitnov facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alexey Pajitnov
Алексей Пажитнов
Pajitnov in 2024
Born	Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov (1955-04-16) April 16, 1955 (age 70) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Citizenship	Soviet Union (until 1991) Russia United States
Alma mater	Moscow Aviation Institute
Occupation	Computer engineer video game designer
Employer	Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre The Tetris Company Microsoft
Known for	Creator of Tetris
Awards	First Penguin Award – Game Developers Choice Awards (2006) LARA – Der Deutsche Games Award [de] (2009)

Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov (born April 16, 1955) is a computer engineer and video game designer from Russia and the United States. He is most famous for creating the popular puzzle game Tetris in 1985. He made Tetris while working at the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre in the Soviet Union. After Tetris became popular around the world in 1987, he released a follow-up game called Welltris in 1989.

In 1991, Alexey moved to the United States and later became a U.S. citizen. In 1996, he started The Tetris Company with another game designer, Henk Rogers. Even though Tetris was super popular, Alexey didn't earn any money from it for a long time. This was because he worked for the Soviet government when he created it.

Early Life

Alexey Pajitnov was born in Moscow, Russia. His parents were both writers. His father was an art critic, and his mother was a journalist who wrote for newspapers and a film magazine. Because of his parents, Alexey learned a lot about art and developed a special love for movies. He often went to film screenings with his mother, including the Moscow Film Festival.

Alexey was also very good at math and loved solving puzzles. When he was 11, his parents divorced. He later studied applied mathematics at the Moscow Aviation Institute.

Career

In 1977, Alexey Pajitnov worked as an intern at the Soviet Academy of Sciences. After he finished college in 1979, he got a job there. He worked on speech recognition at the academy's Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre.

When the Computing Centre got new computers, the researchers would write small programs to test them. Alexey said this became his "excuse for making games." He found computer games exciting because they mixed logic with feelings. He loved both math puzzles and understanding how people think when they use computers.

Creating Tetris

Alexey looked for ideas for a new game. He remembered playing with pentominoes as a child. This is a game where you make pictures using different shapes. He remembered how hard it was to fit all the pieces back into their box. This gave him the idea to create a game based on that challenge.

He started working on Tetris using a computer called an Electronika 60. He built the first basic version in just two weeks. Then he spent more time playing and adding to the game. He finished it on June 6, 1985. This first version didn't have levels or a way to keep score. But Alexey knew it was a great game because he couldn't stop playing it!

Spreading the Game

Other people at work, like programmer Dmitri Pevlovsky, became interested in Tetris. Dmitri helped Alexey connect with Vadim Gerasimov, a 16-year-old intern. Alexey wanted to make a color version of Tetris for the IBM Personal Computer. Vadim helped him with this.

Vadim created the PC version in less than three weeks. With help from Dmitri, they spent another month adding new things like scorekeeping and sound effects. The game was first available in the Soviet Union. Then, in 1988, companies like Mirrorsoft and Spectrum Holobyte released it around the world.

Alexey also created a follow-up game called Welltris. It has a similar idea to Tetris but is played in a three-dimensional space. You see the game area from above.

Earning Royalties

Tetris was licensed and managed by a Soviet company called ELORG. This company controlled all computer hardware and software coming in and out of the Soviet Union. Because Alexey worked for the Soviet Academy of Sciences, he didn't get any money (royalties) from Tetris at first.

After the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, Alexey moved to the United States. In 1996, he started The Tetris Company with Henk Rogers. Around 1995 or 1996, the rights to Tetris finally returned to him. This meant he could at last start earning money from his famous game.

He also helped design puzzles for other games, like the Super NES versions of Yoshi's Cookie. He designed a game called Pandora's Box, which has puzzles similar to jigsaw puzzles. Alexey and Vladimir Pokhilko also started a 3D software company called AnimaTek, which made the game El-Fish.

Alexey worked for Microsoft from 1996 to 2005. There, he worked on puzzle games for the Microsoft Entertainment Pack: The Puzzle Collection and for MSN Games. His improved version of Hexic, called Hexic HD, was included with every new Xbox 360 Premium game console. In 2005, he announced he would work with WildSnake Software to release new puzzle games.

Personal Life

Alexey Pajitnov moved to the United States in 1991 and became a U.S. citizen. He now lives in Clyde Hill, Washington. He is married to Nina, and they have two sons, Peter and Dmitri.

Political Views

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in 2022, Alexey Pajitnov spoke out against the war. He said he was sure that the current Russian government would fall. He hoped that peaceful life would return to Ukraine and Russia.

Games

Awards and Recognition

In 1996, the website GameSpot named Alexey Pajitnov as the fourth most important computer game developer ever. In March 2007, he received the Game Developers Choice Awards First Penguin Award. This award recognized him for being a pioneer in the world of casual games (games that are easy to pick up and play).

In June 2009, he received an honorary award at the LARA - Der Deutsche Games Award in Cologne, Germany. In 2012, IGN included him on their list of "5 Memorable Video Game Industry One-Hit Wonders," calling him "the ultimate video game one-hit wonder." In 2015, Pajitnov won the Bizkaia Award at the Fun & Serious Game Festival.

Alexey Pajitnov was played by Russian actor Nikita Yefremov in the 2023 movie Tetris. This movie tells the exciting story of how different companies fought to get the rights to Tetris in the late 1980s.

See Also

In Spanish: Alekséi Pázhitnov para niños

• BreakThru!, video game endorsed by Pajitnov
• ClockWerx, video game endorsed by Pajitnov