CNN - It's finally payday for Tetris' inventor

(CNN) -- Alexey Pajitnov invented one of the world's most popular computer games, but it has taken more than a decade for him to get paid for it.

Pajitnov devised Tetris in 1985 while working for the old Soviet Academy of Science in Moscow.

"The game is very simple," he says, speaking at his home in suburban Seattle. "Everybody can understand it and everybody says that it has some kind of absolutely mysterious charm in this game so once people start playing they can't stop and do it for hours."

Tetris was marketed under Perestroika, Mikhail Gorbachev's plan to open up the Soviet economy. It was one of the Soviet regime's first experiments with capitalism.

The game was a huge success, published in many forms, selling some 40 million copies. But Pajitnov never received a ruble for his work on Tetris because of complicated Soviet-era government contracts.

The game's most popular version was for Nintendo's Gameboy, which helped launch the successful hand-held game system.

As of last year, all rights to the game reverted back to Alexy so he can finally collect Tetris royalties.

Tetris Junior, a small game machine attached to a key chain is the first product that will pay royalties to Pajitnov's new business, the Tetris Co.

Living in the U.S, he's busy creating a multiplayer version of the electronic puzzle that he hopes will appeal to a new generation of Tetris fans.

"People still play this game," said Pajitnov. "So I hope that several other generations of people enjoy the game and maybe it will stay forever."

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