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26 years ago, a legendary Japanese arcade studio created a whole new category of Tetris - now they're finishing their canceled sequel and bringing it to Steam
Tetris: The Grand Master 4 - Absolute Eye, a long-awaited sequel to the hardcore Tetris series, is finally releasing on Steam in March 2025, bringing its notoriously difficult gameplay to a wider audience.
Tetris: The Grand Master hit arcades way back in 1998, and its take on the Tetris formula had so much staying power that it remains one of the three main branches of the game that hardcore players discuss to this day. Now, a long-cancelled sequel to this series is coming out of the vault, getting the finishing touches, and coming to a much wider audience on Twitter.
Tetris: The Grandmaster 4 - Absolute Eye is "planned to be released on Steam by the end of March 2025," developer Arika announced on social media on December 2. This game was originally announced as a full arcade machine way back in 2009, and went as far as location testing in 2015 - though conspicuously, this version did not feature any proper Tetris branding. Whatever issue was holding the game back seems to be resolved now, at least, and now you won't even have to find an arcade to play it.
テトリスカンパニー社のヘンクさんが来社され、弊社三原と平嶋と今後のテトリスに関してディスカッションを行いました。素晴らしい時間を過ごせたことをとても嬉しく思います。ここで正式にタイトル名を「TETRIS THE GRANDMASTER4 - ABSOLUTE EYE -」と発表させていただきます。… pic.twitter.com/QK9kqNeNzuDecember 3, 2024
The original TGM was released back in 1998 by Arika - the studio of ex-Capcom devs who were then in the midst of making the Street Fighter EX series. Two sequels followed with The Absolute in 2000 and the even more imposingly named Terror Instinct in 2005, and altogether the series became a favorite for the most hardcore of Tetris players because of just how high the skill ceiling is. If you've heard about the legendary Tetris exhibitions at events like Games Done Quick, that's TGM. The video below is as good an example as any of what this game entails.
These days, hardcore Tetris players tend to adhere to one of three main game styles. There's Classic Tetris, which encompasses most of the old-school titles, most notably the NES version whose wild esports have been exploding since 2023. There's also Guideline Tetris, which features all the modern rule changes - stuff like T-spins and holding pieces - that The Tetris Company has set forth.
Finally, there's TGM, which - I mean this in the most complimentary way possible - feels like the Tetris variant for the true sickos. I'm honestly a little scared to try it out for myself, but I'm thrilled Absolute Eye is getting out to a wider audience on Steam.