Between December 11 and 13, the final of one of the oldest video games in the world took place: the Mundial Red Bull Tetris. Made in Dubai, United Arab Emiratesthe event broke a new world record for being the largest Tetris game ever played.
With players from 60 countries, the championship was the first to be officially sanctioned on a global scale. The show was monumental: 2,800 drones reproduced the blocks of the iconic puzzle in the sky of Dubai.
The final took place in the monumental Dubai Frame, a structure 150 meters high. The spectators also enjoyed a show with 4.000 drones and live music.
The grand final: Türkiye vs. Peru
After more than 7 million qualifying matches in 60 countries, the grand final faced Fehmi Atalarof Türkiyecontra Leo Solorzanoof Peru. The final game was historic: the first official Tetris game playable live in the sky.
Türkiye’s Fehmi Atalar took the tournament’s first world crown with a final score of 168.566. Photo: Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool.The outcome was a intense 10 minute duel in which players competed in a single-player format, each with exactly five minutes of play. His Tetriminos were created in real time by a fleet of 2.800 drones1,400 for each player.
Solórzano started the duel and obtained a final score of 57,164 points. Atalar, for his part, won the tournament’s first world crown with a final score of 168,566 points.
«After the semi-finals I said that if I won, it would be a great achievement for my country and for myself. So It’s really crazy to win todayit’s surreal,» said Atalar in a official statement.
Leo Solórzano, from Peru, started the duel and obtained a final score of 57.164 points. Photo: Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool.Atalar is a computer engineering student from 19 years from Samsun who currently lives in Yalova. «He is an intermediate to advanced chess player who enjoys programming, problem solving and is an experienced Tetris competitor,» indicated the official Red Bull website.
The creator’s dream
The event occurs more than four decades after the creation of the video game in 1984 by Alexey Pajitnovwhile working as a software engineer in the Soviet Union. Pajitnov said the Dubai event was a «dream come true.»
«When I created Tetris in 1984I never imagined it would become the global cultural icon it is today, and that it would continue to evolve in new and exciting ways,» Pajitnov said, according to The Independent.
The final took place in the monumental Dubai Frame, a 150-meter-high structure. Photo: Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool.He added that «one of his biggest dreams was to see it played with drones.»
«For more than 40 years, Tetris was an iconic game that inspired creativity and connection around the world,» said Maya RogersCEO of Tetris.
