The White House has removed its Tetris-like Build the Wall browser game from its Arcade page, days after The Tetris Company publicly distanced itself from the project and said it had not authorized use of its intellectual property. The game no longer appears among the playable titles on the official White House Arcade, and its former direct page now returns a 404 error. The White House has not publicly explained why it was taken down.
Build the Wall was one of five retro-inspired games launched through the White House website on September 3. Its gameplay closely resembled Tetris, with players moving and rotating falling blocks to construct a barrier while zombie-like figures approached a location labeled the southern border. The game used phrases including “Zombie Border Siege” and encouraged players to build high enough to stop the approaching group.
The Tetris Company responded on September 4 by making clear that it had no involvement in the game. In a statement, the company said it had neither participated in the creation of Build the Wall nor authorized or licensed the Tetris brand or intellectual property for it. It also said it takes copyright infringement “very seriously” and confirmed separately that it was reviewing the matter.
The company also objected to the broader message behind the game. Tetris said it believes in bringing people together rather than dividing them, drawing an explicit contrast between that principle and a game centered on constructing a border wall. It did not announce legal action against the White House, and there has been no public confirmation that a formal copyright complaint was filed.
The removal therefore comes after The Tetris Company’s criticism, but there is currently no evidence establishing that the statement directly caused the White House to take the game down. The administration has not issued a notice about the removal, and The Tetris Company has not announced that it requested or secured the game’s deletion. What can be confirmed is that Build the Wall was previously publicly playable and is now absent from the Arcade page.
The rest of the White House Arcade remains available. Its current lineup includes Flappy Bill, Rio Run, Supply Line and Trump Savings Tycoon, with another slot marked as “Coming Soon.” The games adapt familiar arcade concepts to themes connected with President Donald Trump’s policy agenda, including immigration enforcement, school nutrition and child savings accounts.
Build the Wall had attracted particular attention because of both its subject matter and its obvious similarity to Tetris. Traditional Tetris revolves around arranging falling tetrominoes and clearing completed lines, whereas the White House game inverted that familiar goal by asking players to continue building a wall. Reports also noted that White House promotional material for the Arcade referenced visual styles associated with other gaming brands, including Sega, Xbox and Nintendo-era console interfaces.
The Arcade launch drew broader scrutiny over the administration’s use of recognizable gaming imagery and mechanics in political messaging. The White House had promoted the collection through social media posts styled after familiar video game branding, while several of the games themselves closely resemble established titles. The Tetris Company was the clearest major rights holder to publicly object to the project.
For now, the removal appears limited to Build the Wall rather than the Arcade initiative as a whole. Visitors can still access the remaining games through the White House website, while the former Build the Wall page is no longer available. Without a statement from either side directly linking the takedown to the copyright dispute, the exact reason for its removal remains unconfirmed.
