Willis Gibson (born January 27, 2010), also known online as Blue Scuti, is an American classic Tetris player from Stillwater, Oklahoma. He is best known for becoming the first person to "beat the game" of Tetris on December 21, 2023, after he triggered a game crash on the previously unreached level 157. He gained international attention after the achievement, being interviewed by The New York Times and Good Morning America.
Gibson became interested in Tetris at age 11 after watching related content on YouTube. He began to play the game competitively with the rolling technique, and participates in tournaments including the Classic Tetris World Championship, where he placed third on two occasions. Gibson is considered one of the strongest American Tetris players,[1][2] as well as the most famous internationally.
Gibson began to play the 1989 puzzle video game Tetris in 2021 when he was 11 years old. He became interested after watching content relating to it on YouTube.[1][4][5] Before Tetris, Gibson had shown an interest in gaming from around 5 years old, playing other video games like Geometry Dash, Minecraft, and Rocket League.[6] After showing greater interest towards Tetris, however, his mother acquired a RetroN console from a pawnbroker[1] and a CRT display her workplace had discarded.[7] Playing the game started out as "mainly a hobby", Gibson said in a 2023 interview, but later grew into competitive play online and against others. He eventually began to livestream under the gaming name "Blue Scuti", referring to the star UY Scuti.[5]
Before his game crash achievement, Gibson competed in several tournaments, including placing third in the Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) in October 2023, winning US$1,500.[5][8] At 13 years old, Gibson was also one of the event's youngest competitors.[5] He won his first live tournament at a Kansas City regional on December 2, 2023,[4][9] where he received a championship apron.[6]
Game crash achievement
After the CTWC in October 2023, Gibson began his attempt to be the first to "beat the game", a point late in the game when its code glitches and displays a game crash due to hardware limitations within the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).[10] This game crash had only previously been reached by AI and tool assistance.[11] Gibson was inspired by fellow competitive Tetris player and YouTuber Justin Yu ("Fractal161"), who announced his intentions to reach the game crash after the CTWC.[4] To improve his skills in the late-game phase, Gibson practiced playing "Dusk" and "Charcoal", two levels considered to be the hardest in the game because of their dark and distorted hues of the blocks caused by a late-game memory glitch.[4]
On December 21, 2023, Gibson became the first person on the NES version of Tetris to "beat the game" after reaching level 157 and triggering the game crash.[1] The record playthrough lasted 38 minutes and was uploaded to Gibson's YouTube channel on January 2, 2024, under the title "The First Time Somebody Has Ever 'Beat' Tetris".[11][12] The playthrough was also the highest overall scoring game of Tetris at the time of recording.[8]
The achievement attracted mass media attention. The New York Times interviewed him, and Good Morning America broadcast excerpts of Gibson's video.[1][4] In a statement, Tetris Company CEO Maya Rogers congratulated Gibson for his "feat that defies all preconceived limits" of the game.[4][10] President of the CTWC, Vince Clemente, remarked: "It's basically something that everyone thought was impossible"[1] and that the whole event "is unbelievable".[13] On January 5, 2024, Gibson's post-victory reaction quote, "I can't feel my fingers", became The New York Times quote of the day.[14] On the same day, Tetris co-founders Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers met with Gibson over a video call, calling his playthrough an "amazing, amazing achievement."[15][16] Gibson later met the two creators in person on June 6, 2024, at a special anniversary event in Los Angeles.[17]
The American monthly magazine Wired credited the widespread media attention of the achievement to a recent "cultural obsession" of the game, restarting in 2023 with the release of the Tetris film, and an uptick in generally negative news starting off the New Year in 2024.[18] A clip of Gibson breathing heavily and repeatedly exclaiming, "Oh, my God!" at the moment of the crash was circulated widely.[1][15] While the media's reaction to Gibson remained largely positive,[18]Sky News presenter Jayne Secker remarked that "as a mother, I would just say step away from the screen, go outside, get some fresh air" and that "beating Tetris is not a life goal". Secker's comments attracted considerable backlash.[19]
Recent history
Gibson played at the Heart of Texas tournament in Waco on January 20, 2024.[20][21] Though he was defeated in the semifinals, a "surge in attention and popularity" at the tournament was attributed to him and the crowd "grew each time Gibson was competing".[22]
On January 23, John Green announced that Complexly would be sponsoring Gibson.[23] In May 2024, Gibson was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. The equipment used in the game crash playthrough was loaned to the Hall of Fame museum for a temporary exhibit.[3]
From June 7–9, Gibson competed in the 2024 Classic Tetris World Championship. After tying the previous year's record of 16 maxouts and thereby securing seed 1, Gibson was ultimately eliminated early, losing to "Tristop" in the quarterfinals, who in turn would lose his next round to the eventual champion Alex Thach.[24][25][26]
On June 7, Gibson was one of 8 selected players to participate in a promotional Tetris side event for the ModRetro Chromatic, a Game Boy Color clone console. There, he won without a loss against two celebrity invitees, first skateboarder Aaron Homoki, then WWE wrestler Logan Paul, but would end up losing without a win in finals to Andrew Artiaga. [27]
Paul, who skipped appearing on WWE SmackDown in order to participate, would later upload a 15 minute documentary of the event to his YouTube channel, focusing on his rivalry with Gibson, who he proclaimed to be 'the toughest opponent I’ve ever faced’.[28][29][30]
From June 6–8, Gibson returned to compete in the 2025 Classic Tetris World Championship, this time losing in semifinals to repeat champion Alex Thach.[31][32]
Gibson is regarded as one of the best Tetris players in the United States.[1][2]
Playing style
While playing Tetris, Gibson holds the game controller between his left knee and right foot. He drums on the back of the controller with his right hand fingers, rapidly pushing the buttons into his left hand.
Gibson's playing style was described as "aggressive" by Stillwater News Press.[5] He first learned to play the game using the hypertapping technique in 2021, but when the faster rolling technique was discovered, his playing style changed to it instead.[4] The combination of skill, aggression, and mastery of the rolling technique was credited to Gibson's ability to perform well in the game.[2][4][5] For his set-up, Gibson often plays with the controller on his right foot balanced against his left knee, with his right hand performing the rolling and tapping actions. He wears a glove on his right hand to reduce the friction of the repeated actions, a common strategy for rollers.[5]
Personal life
Gibson was born on January 27, 2010,[33] to Karin Cox, herself a gamer and high-school math teacher,[1][4] and Adam Gibson, who died on December 14, 2023.[2][15] Before his death, Adam attended Willis's first live tournament victory at the Kansas City regional[7] and commissioned a neon sign of Willis's username as a Christmas gift.[15] In an interview with NBC News on January 5, 2024, Gibson dedicated his game crash achievement to his father,[15] who had died from a heart attack one week before Gibson achieved the game crash.[34] In another interview with WFAA in February 2024, Gibson stated he's brought a keepsake plush with the words "I Love You Dad" written on the back of it to each tournament he's competed in since.[34]
Aside from Tetris and other retro games, Gibson's hobbies include playing at the arcade, bowling, cycling, and solving Rubik's cubes.[1][4][5][34] He has stated that he does not want his Tetris career to interfere with his education, and that he plans to use any prize money or other related earnings to pay for college.[4] Relating to retro games, Gibson has stated his interest in someday playing Super Mario Bros. at a competitive level.[35]
1 2 Cox, Karin (January 8, 2024). "Talking with Blue Scuti's Mom". Tetris Gal Talk (Interview). Interviewed by Kim, Eunha. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
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