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Meet the Red Bull Tetris® global winner who made gaming history in Dubai
With 5 minutes on the clock and drones lighting up the sky, Fehmi Atalar of Türkiye stacked his score to become the tournament’s first global champion. Here’s a recap of the jaw-dropping World Final.
In a night of world firsts, Fehmi Atalar of Türkiye had the biggest first of all, as he dominated the action to claim the first-ever Red Bull Tetris® global crown with 2,800 drones displaying his Grand Final match against Peru’s Leo Solórzano at the Dubai Frame.
It was the first official live playable Tetris game in the sky.
“I said after the Semi-Finals that if I win, it will be a huge achievement for my country and myself. So it is really insane to win today, it feels surreal,” said Atalar, who came to the World Final with a fearsome reputation for gameplay speed and was ranked first in the seeding rounds.
I said that if I win, it will be a huge achievement for my country and myself
Spectators at the monumental Dubai Frame were treated to a show featuring 4,000 drones in all, as well as live music arranged especially for the event and appearances by special guests. But the excitement peaked when it was time for the gameplay: after more than 7 million games played in qualifiers, National Finals in 60 countries, and a full day of World Final knock-out brackets, it would all come down to an intense, 10-minute Grand Final played by the two best Red Bull Tetris players in the world.
The show featured live music, special guests and 4,000 drones in all
© Philip Platzer / Red Bull Content Pool
To get things started, the pair went head-to-head in a 3-minute pre-final match – with the winner earning the right to determine the order of play in the single-player format of the Grand Final. Upon winning the pre-final, Atalar chose to play second in the all-important decider. The opponents would each have exactly 5 minutes of gameplay to achieve the winning score, with their Tetriminos created in real time by a fleet of 2,800 drones: 1,400 for each player.
The moment was historic. No one had ever seen Tetris played like this. But with the music resounding in the desert air and the crowd holding their breath, the drones precisely displayed every fall, rotation and drop of the Tetriminos in real time.
Solórzano set the score to beat: 57,164.
And then, with the outcome resting on his shoulders, Atalar calmly lived up to his reputation. As the drones soared to the top of the Dubai Frame’s 150-metre-high structure, the score stacked almost too fast to follow. And when the clock ran out, the victory was his with a final score of 168,566.
Atalar playing the drones in the Grand Final
© Dean Treml / Red Bull Content Pool
The build-up to the big night
The finale at the Frame had been preceded by a day of fierce action as the national winners gathered at the stunning Terra Solis destination in the Arabian Dunes. On the agenda: seeding rounds, followed by the 1vs1 brackets that would eventually determine the two finalists who would play in the all-important match at the Frame.
The day at Terra Solis was already a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but a buzz quickly spread throughout the compound when two of the biggest names in Tetris arrived: the game’s inventor, Alexey Pajitnov, and the man who brought the game to the world, Henk Rogers, chatted and took selfies with the players they met – for many, a chance to meet their heroes.
Finally, it was time for the Semi-Finals, where Atalar triumphed over South Korea’s national winner and Solórzano toppled an opponent from France to earn their spots in the historic Grand Final.
Solórzano celebrates winning his Semi-Final
© Philip Platzer / Red Bull Content Pool
The Red Bull Tetris World Final in Dubai was the culmination of a new tournament that puts a high-speed twist on the classic game with 3-minute rounds, gravity shifts, speed boosts and special power-ups. The tournament literally went from phone to drone, as Qualifiers saw participants in 60 countries play right on their mobile devices. Then the gameplay moved to PC for the National Final and World Final brackets before the unforgettable final match on drones.
This event was one of a kind. It's not a thing you can describe in words
Red Bull Tetris partners for the World Final included the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, Careem, Worldwide City Sightseeing and X Dubai.
"Over [my] five years of Tetris experience, this was the best moment, and this event was one of a kind. It's not a thing you can describe in words," Atalar concluded. "I managed to play like a machine, and although I could have done things a bit cleaner, I achieved a flawless run and did not miss a single point in any of my matches, so I am very happy."
Find out more about Red Bull Tetris and the World Final right here.
