Last week, the White House unveiled a new government website called Arcade.gov, which hosted five web-based games that promoted President Trump’s agenda. Following accusations of racism and veiled threats of potential legal action, only four of those games are now visible on Arcade.gov.
“Build the Wall,” a Tetris clone that promoted an anti-immigrant ideology and challenged players to “protect the border from the coming horde” is no longer on the Arcade.gov website.
The White House launched the arcade website last Thursday through a series of social media videos spoofing classic game console opening screens from companies like Nintendo and Sega. The five playable games on the site were all knockoffs of titles like Flappy Bird.
However, the website’s Tetris clone, “Build the Wall,” received the most attention for its virulently anti-immigrant messaging.
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Just one day later, the team behind Tetris issued an official statement distancing itself from the game and floating potential legal action.
“At Tetris, we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them,” Tetris said in a statement posted to its official social media accounts. “To our fans everywhere: we love you, we see you, and we’re grateful to have you in our community.”
“P.S. The Tetris Company was not involved in the creation of ‘Build the Wall’,” the statement continued. “P.P.S. We take copyright infringement very seriously.”
It’s unclear if The Tetris Company officially took action against the White House’s knockoff puzzle game. However, it does seem that the threat spooked the Trump administration enough to have the game removed.
