The game, ‘Build the Wall,’ filtered classic block-stacking mechanics through the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
The White House has removed Build the Wall, a browser-based game where you would stack bricks to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, from its online arcade. The game’s removal appears to be in response to public pushback from The Tetris Company, which last week distanced itself from the project and pointed at copyright concerns, given Build the Wall‘s deliberate similarity to Tetris.
Build the Wall was one of several games the White House introduced on September 3, seemingly to chase the attention crude, policy-themed minigames could grab online. While Build the Wall wasn’t the only game clearly ripping off an existing title — Flappy Bill is a clone of Flappy Bird and Rio Run is just Snake — it did stand out because of The Tetris Company’s immediate negative response
https://x.com/Tetris_Official/status/2095933372019216384
On September 4, the company posted on Instagram and X that it disagreed with the divisive rhetoric of Build the Wall and believes in “the power of connection and bringing people together.” It also suggested that it “takes copyright infringement very seriously.” In a further comment to Engadget, the company wouldn’t commit to taking legal action, but did say that it was “reviewing the matter” to determine <a href="https://myappsplus.com/what-is-rokus-secret-menu-and-how-do-you-unlock-it/” title=”What is Roku's secret menu and how do you unlock it?”>what other response was necessary. It’s not clear what the company ultimately did, but it seems like even a moderate amount of public pushback got the White House to remove the game, a good lesson for the owner of whichever media property the Trump administration spoofs next.
