White House Pulls Wall Game After Tetris Threat
White House Pulls Wall Game After Tetris Threat
The News
The White House has removed "Build the Wall," a Tetris-style browser game about stacking bricks along the US-Mexico border, from its official arcade page after The Tetris Company publicly warned about copyright infringement.
The game was one of five minigames the administration launched on the White House website on September 3, each built around a Trump policy priority.
The takedown was spotted Tuesday and happened quietly, according to Gizmodo, which credited Video Games Chronicle with catching it.
Timeline
The White House launches its arcade page, promoting it on X with the post "ARCADE.GOV." Five point-and-click games go live, including "Build the Wall," a "Flappy Bird" knockoff called Flappy Bill, a border-patrol game called Rio Run, a school-lunch sorting game called Supply Line, and Trump Savings Tycoon.
The Tetris Company posts an image on Instagram and X reading, "At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them." The caption adds: "P.S. The Tetris Company was not involved in the creation of 'Build the Wall'. P.P.S. We take copyright infringement very seriously."
"Build the Wall" no longer appears on the arcade page. The other four games remain up.
Reactions
The Tetris Company told Engadget it would not commit to taking legal action but said it was "reviewing the matter" to determine what other response was necessary. No formal legal action has been reported.
Coverage split sharply along predictable lines. The Blaze framed it as a "legendary video game company" threatening the White House "and getting results," and noted the administration is used to being sued but probably did not have Tetris on the bingo card. Gizmodo and Daily Kos both called the game racist, with Gizmodo describing it as "Tetris for xenophobes."
The White House has not publicly explained the removal.
What's Next
The administration has promised more games on the arcade page.
The remaining titles borrow heavily from other properties as well — Engadget notes Flappy Bill copies "Flappy Bird" and Rio Run is essentially "Snake" — leaving open whether other rights holders follow Tetris's lead.
The Blaze reports that "Build the Wall" can still be seen in the administration's promotional video on YouTube, and that the video's boot-up sequence resembles Microsoft's Xbox and Sega startups, with music similar to Sonic the Hedgehog. Neither company has been reported to object.
More
What the Games Do
In "Build the Wall," players stacked blocks to build a wall on the southern border. Rio Run has players "patrol the line along the river," instructing them to "pick up every crosser in the lot." Supply Line tells players to "sort the school lunch to Make America Healthy Again," knocking seed oils, junk food, candy and artificial colors off an assembly line. Trump Savings Tycoon has players catch gold bars and money in a net to fill a child's Trump account.
Gizmodo noted the irony of the premise: in actual Tetris, a completed gapless row disappears.
Poll
Was the White House right to pull the game?
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