The Trump administration in the United States recently added an "Arcade Zone" to its official website, featuring several games with overt MAGA themes that blatantly imitate well-known titles. One such game, titled Build the Wall, is a barefaced clone of Tetris. The Tetris Company, which holds the copyright, promptly issued a statement distancing itself from the White House's latest publicity stunt and threatened potential copyright litigation against the federal government.
On September 4, the holding company co-owned by Alexey Pajitnov, the creator of Tetris, and businessman Henk Rogers, posted on Instagram: "At Tetris, we believe in the power of connection and are dedicated to bringing people together rather than creating division. To our fans around the world, we love you, we are watching over you, and we deeply appreciate you being part of our community."
The company also added in the comments section of the post: "Note: The Tetris Company was not involved in the production of Build the Wall. Additional note: We have zero tolerance for copyright infringement." In the comments, numerous users urged The Tetris Company to sue Trump.
If Pajitnov and Rogers were to file a lawsuit, it would be the first time in the gaming industry that legal action has been taken against the White House for using copyrighted game assets without authorization to create political memes and other online promotional content. Previous parody content released by the presidential team also included AI-modified scenes from Persona 5, Halo-themed ads for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and a MAGA remix of the Pokémon theme song.
Earlier this March, The Pokémon Company attempted to distance itself from such incidents. Company spokesperson Sravanthi Dave stated at the time: "We have noticed elements related to our brand appearing in recent social media content. We were not involved in the creation or distribution of this content, nor did we authorize any party to use our intellectual property. Our mission is to bring the world together, a mission that is not associated with any political views or agendas."
Six months have passed, and the relevant copyright holders have yet to take any concrete action. Although reports suggest that Japanese officials are privately mediating to persuade the Trump team to stop using game and anime assets in their social media content, all parties remain hesitant, with no one willing to step forward and enforce their rights.