Apple TV+ drama Tetris is raising some eyebrows over the complex political machinations involved in the addictive 1980s game. Henk Rogers tries desperately to acquire the rights to the handheld Tetris game in the film based on a true story and discovers that he is not the only player involved.
Robert Maxwell and his son Kevin would come to own the UK company Mirrorsoft and were also very interested in the game rights, leading to a battle of wits between various parties involved.
Tetris was created by the Russian video game designer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984, and he is a significant player in the events of the Tetris film. Pajitnov would eventually relocate to America in 1991, becoming a US citizen.
Together with Henk Rogers, the two men would form The Tetris Company in 1996.
READ: Why is the movie Tetris R Rated?
This article responds to viewers wondering about the authenticity of the film’s events, so we are carefully placing the pieces together in this article and tentatively asking the question, is the company Mirrorsoft real?
Is the company Mirrorsoft real?
Yes, it is. It was founded for The Mirror Newspapers Group by Jim Mackonochie in 1983.
Mackonochie, in the 1980s, was a development manager at the company who felt that expansion into software would be a good move. This was the origin of Mirrorsoft.
Robert Maxwell would eventually take over the Mirror group, which included Mirrorsoft. Maxwell would then change the focus of the Mirrorsoft company to focus on video games, and I am sure some of you will know some of those titles, including Boulder Dash, Legend of the Sword, and Dynamite Dan.
His son Kevin Maxwell would be placed into Mirrorsoft as managing director.
Robert Maxwell would contact Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in an attempt to block a deal that Henk Rogers put forward to acquire Tetris, but even this desperate attempt would fail.
Does Mirrorsoft still exist?
The company would be prominent between 1983 and 1991 before closing in 1992. Maxwell’s death in 1991 would play a part in the company’s closure, and although Mirrorsoft would continue after his death, it would not be long before Maxwell’s company would be dissolved, leaving Mirrorsoft adrift.
Administrators would take control of the business and shut down the sales arm of Mirrorsoft. With Mirrorsoft essentially in administration, most assets would be sold to Acclaim Entertainment.
However, in a new twist, Throwback Entertainment would relaunch Mirrorsoft, changing the name slightly to MIRROR Soft and re-releasing some of its back catalogs in 2020.
Who founded Mirrorsoft?
The development manager for The Mirror Newspaper group Jim Mackonochie was the man behind Mirrorsoft.
Jim was a former British Royal Navy officer and helped develop flight simulation games.
He would also work at a vintage military aircraft company called The Fighter Collection. This privately operated company specialized in airworthy airplanes at Duxford Aerodrome in Cambridgeshire in the UK.
Jim was a highly regarded figure in the early development of games, and titles he worked on include Falcon, SU-27 Flanker, Lock On-Modern Air Combat, and Digital Combat Simulator. Sadly he would died on April 21st, 2013.
