"Build The Wall" Arcade Game on White House Website Pulled by Rights Holder; White House Silent, Other Four Games Still Running

The White House has pulled a Tetris-style arcade game called "Build The Wall" from its official website. The game requires players to stack blocks to "protect the border," and was the first work in the White House website's mini-games section to be removed over copyright issues.

According to the BBC, The Tetris Company posted on its official X account on September 4, publicly stating that the company "was not involved in creating" the game and stressing that it "takes copyright infringement issues very seriously." The statement read: "At Tetris, we believe in the power of connection, building bonds between people rather than dividing them."

The BBC noted that the White House did not respond to a request for comment, nor provided an official reason for the takedown decision.

"Build The Wall" is only one of five works in the White House website's mini-games section. According to the BBC, the section still retains four arcade games. "Flappy Bill" mimics Flappy Bird, which took the world by storm in 2013, with players controlling a bald eagle flying past monuments on the National Mall; "Rio Run" plays similarly to the classic mobile game Snake, requiring players to "patrol" along a virtual river. These games, together with "Build The Wall," directly translate national symbols and political narratives into lightweight forms of entertainment.

The Tetris Company's copyright stance has been legally tested before. According to the BBC, the company filed a lawsuit in 2012 over the iPhone game Mino, which was alleged to infringe its copyright, eventually reaching a settlement for an undisclosed sum.

Facing the rights holder's refusal, based on a values stance of "connection rather than division," to lend its imagery to a political narrative, the White House chose to pull the game, offering no public explanation for the takedown decision, nor responding to the BBC's request for comment.