The White House has removed a video game resembling Tetris from its website after receiving a complaint from the Tetris Company.
In an unusual move, the White House recently added several arcade-style video games to its official site. Among these was a contentious game titled “Build the Wall,” which closely mirrored the gameplay of Tetris, challenging players to stack blocks of varying shapes and sizes. This game faced significant backlash for its perceived racist undertones, as its objective centered around constructing a wall to fend off a fictional “zombie border siege.”
Following the public awareness of “Build the Wall,” the Tetris Company, which holds the rights to the original Tetris game, expressed its disapproval, clarifying its lack of involvement in the game’s creation. In an Instagram post, the Tetris Company stated, “The Tetris Company was not involved in the creation of ‘Build the Wall.’ We take copyright infringement very seriously.”
Currently, the link to “Build the Wall” leads to a 404 error page, indicating the game is no longer accessible. The gaming removal was first highlighted by Kotaku, which noted the absence of the game on the White House website. TechCrunch has reached out to the Trump administration for further comments.
Another game, titled Rio Run, remains available on the government’s website. In this game, players control a white male character with the objective of deporting as many immigrant characters as possible.
