The White House pulls its racist Tetris clone
ThinkingNews Desk · how this was written
The White House removed its “Build the Wall” Tetris clone from the arcade.gov website after the Tetris Company complained that the game infringed its copyright. The removal was made quietly, with the site no longer hosting the border-wall themed game.
Written from all 5 reports below, not from any single one.
How it was reported
- The Verge·The White House pulls its racist Tetris clone
The White House removed a Tetris-style game titled “Build the Wall” from its recently launched arcade website within days of its debut. The game required players to stack blocks to stop a “zombie border siege,” prompting criticism for its racist theme. The Tetris Company said it is investigating the incident.
- Ars Technica·The White House made a "Tetris" clone. The Tetris Company was not amused.
The White House posted an anti-immigration “Build the Wall” game that mimics Tetris, requiring players to stack bricks to stop “Zombie Border” attackers, but unlike Tetris completed lines never disappear, causing the well to fill and end with a “Border Breached” message. The Tetris Company denied any involvement and warned it takes copyright infringement seriously, while Texas migrant-rights group Frontera Federation co-director Amerika Garcia Grewal criticized the game as inhumane.
- TechMeme·The White House has quietly removed Build The Wall, a Tetris clone on its arcade.gov website, after Tetris said it takes "copyright infringement very seriously" (Zack Zwiezen/Kotaku)
The White House quietly removed the “Build The Wall” Tetris-style game from its arcade.gov site after the Tetris franchise issued a copyright-infringement warning. The removal reflects the administration’s response to the claim that the clone violated Tetris’s intellectual-property rights.
- Engadget·The White House removed its border-wall Tetris clone
The White House removed “Build the Wall,” a browser game that mimics Tetris mechanics to let players stack bricks along the U.S.-Mexico border, after The Tetris Company publicly objected, citing copyright concerns and disagreeing with the game’s divisive rhetoric. The removal follows similar criticism of other White House minigames that copy Flappy Bird and Snake, and reflects the administration’s response to the company’s statement that it “takes copyright infringement very seriously.”
- TechCrunch·White House takes down ‘Build the Wall’ game after the Tetris Company complains
The White House removed the “Build the Wall” game from its website after the Tetris Company, which owns the original Tetris rights, issued a copyright infringement claim. The game, resembling Tetris, tasked players with stacking blocks to build a wall against a “zombie border siege.” The page now returns a 404 error, while another game, Rio Run, remains available.