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Last week, The White House, the seat of power in a country that really has better things to be doing, rolled out a virtual arcade containing five very bad videogames, including one based on the famed block-stacking game Tetris. Unlike what we've seen in past instances where videogame properties were used without permission in White House propaganda, The Tetris Company quickly called it out, warning, "We take copyright infringement very seriously."
And now, that game—called Build the Wall—is gone.
Most of the games in the White House Arcade promote various elements of US president Donald Trump's agenda: Rio Run promotes racism and xenophobia, Supply Line focuses on the virtues of science denial, and Trump Savings Tycoon extols the upsides of corruption. Build the Wall was all about stoking fears of immigration: Stacked blocks represented a wall keeping people—very specifically Mexicans, described by the game as "the coming horde"—from entering the US.
It was a very bad game that didn't seem to work entirely correctly, but nonetheless it was undeniably a Tetris clone, and it prompted a response from The Tetris Company on Instagram: "At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them. To our fans everywhere: We love you, we see you, and we're grateful to have you in our community." The Tetris Company also clarified that it was not involved in the making of the game, and issued that indirect but hard-to-miss warning about copyright.
When exactly the game was removed isn't known, but its absence was first noticed today by This Week in Video Games; the Internet Archives' Wayback Machine indicates the game was still present on the site as of around 9 pm ET on September 7.
What makes Build the Wall's removal so interesting is how The Tetris Company's response stands in such contrast to the silence of other companies whose properties have been used in the White House's prolific social media posting. Halo, Destiny 2, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Pokémon have all featured prominently in such posts; more recently, the White House has used Xbox, Nintendo, and Sega logos to promote its new arcade.
The Pokémon Company said it hadn't granted permission for the use of its characters in the posts, and Japan's Foreign Ministry has reportedly asked the US government, behind closed doors, to please stop. But as far as I know this is the first time anyone has explicitly called out the White House's unauthorized use of intellectual properties in public, and implied the possibility of action over it.
Of course there's no confirmed connection between The Tetris Company's insinuation of trouble and the sudden takedown of the Tetris clone from the White House Arcade, and it could just be a coincidence that the one company to push back on this sort of garbage is the one company to get action on it. But it could be that there's a lesson to be learned here, too. I've reached out to The Tetris Company and the White House to ask if it's a coincidence or something more, and will update if I receive a reply.
Continue reading...
And now, that game—called Build the Wall—is gone.
Most of the games in the White House Arcade promote various elements of US president Donald Trump's agenda: Rio Run promotes racism and xenophobia, Supply Line focuses on the virtues of science denial, and Trump Savings Tycoon extols the upsides of corruption. Build the Wall was all about stoking fears of immigration: Stacked blocks represented a wall keeping people—very specifically Mexicans, described by the game as "the coming horde"—from entering the US.
It was a very bad game that didn't seem to work entirely correctly, but nonetheless it was undeniably a Tetris clone, and it prompted a response from The Tetris Company on Instagram: "At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them. To our fans everywhere: We love you, we see you, and we're grateful to have you in our community." The Tetris Company also clarified that it was not involved in the making of the game, and issued that indirect but hard-to-miss warning about copyright.
When exactly the game was removed isn't known, but its absence was first noticed today by This Week in Video Games; the Internet Archives' Wayback Machine indicates the game was still present on the site as of around 9 pm ET on September 7.
What makes Build the Wall's removal so interesting is how The Tetris Company's response stands in such contrast to the silence of other companies whose properties have been used in the White House's prolific social media posting. Halo, Destiny 2, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Pokémon have all featured prominently in such posts; more recently, the White House has used Xbox, Nintendo, and Sega logos to promote its new arcade.
CAN'T STOP WINNING.Build the wall. Deport. Fill a Trump Account. LIVE - PLAY NOW
https://t.co/qIR69AxSnm pic.twitter.com/2nr2jG1ZRgSeptember 3, 2026
The Pokémon Company said it hadn't granted permission for the use of its characters in the posts, and Japan's Foreign Ministry has reportedly asked the US government, behind closed doors, to please stop. But as far as I know this is the first time anyone has explicitly called out the White House's unauthorized use of intellectual properties in public, and implied the possibility of action over it.
Of course there's no confirmed connection between The Tetris Company's insinuation of trouble and the sudden takedown of the Tetris clone from the White House Arcade, and it could just be a coincidence that the one company to push back on this sort of garbage is the one company to get action on it. But it could be that there's a lesson to be learned here, too. I've reached out to The Tetris Company and the White House to ask if it's a coincidence or something more, and will update if I receive a reply.
Continue reading...
