The White House removed its Tetris-style “Build the Wall” arcade game after the Tetris Company warned it takes copyright infringement seriously.
SAN FRANCISCO (United States): The White House on Tuesday pulled a Tetris-style game called “Build the Wall” from its new online arcade, four days after a warning by the classic game maker that it takes copyright infringement seriously.
The block-stacking game, subtitled “Zombie Border Siege,” told players to “protect the border from the coming horde.”
It was no longer available on whitehouse.gov/arcade on Tuesday.
The White House did not immediately respond to an AFP request asking why it was removed.
The Tetris Company told AFP on Friday that it played no part in the game’s creation.
“The Tetris Company was not involved in the creation of ‘Build the Wall’ and did not authorize or license the Tetris brand or intellectual property for the game,” it said, adding that it was “currently reviewing the matter” when asked whether it was weighing legal action.
“At Tetris, we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them,” the company wrote on X.
“P.P.S. We take copyright infringement very seriously,” the post continued.
The arcade, launched Thursday on the White House website, drew condemnation for racist themes and questions about potential copyright violations.
The games and the promotional clips the White House posted on social media borrowed imagery resembling that of Sega, Microsoft-owned Xbox and the Flappy Bird Foundation.
In one clip, the letters of the Sega logo morph into MAGA, the acronym for President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan.
Other games remained playable, including “Flappy Bill,” in which a bald eagle dodges columns against a backdrop resembling Washington, and “Rio Run,” a Snake-style game themed on deportations.
“This administration is laser focused on ways to innovate and tell the story of the President’s many accomplishments in a way that resonates with every American,” the White House said Thursday in a statement to AFP.
Trump campaigned on a promise to expel millions of undocumented migrants and has moved aggressively to conduct deportations.
