The White House has removed the “Build the Wall” game — a Tetris knockoff in which players were tasked with fortifying the southern U.S. border to keep out illegal immigrants — after the company that owns the rights to the popular title issued a statement saying it “take[s] copyright infringement very seriously.”
Trump’s White House on Sept. 3 launched arcade.gov, featuring a collection of five MAGA-themed games. That included “Build the Wall” (with the subtitle “ZOMBIE BORDER SIEGE”). The foreign invaders from the Mexican side of the border bounced off the wall a player built and disintegrated, until the blocks were stacked above the upper bound and the game ended with the message “BORDER BREACHED.”
As of Tuesday, the “Build the Wall” game was no longer available on the White House game site, as first spotted by gaming site Kotaku.
Reps for the White House and the Tetris Company did not respond to requests for comment.
Tetris Holding LLC is the owner of Tetris rights worldwide, and the Tetris Company is its exclusive licensee. In a statement posted to social media Friday, the Tetris Company said: “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.”
