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The Trump Administration appears to have pulled its 'Build the Wall' Tetris clone offline less than one week after its launch.
The title launched last week alongside a small collection of other games as part of yet another attempt from The White House to connect with U.S. gamers. Build the Wall has now vanished from the Arcade.Gov website (as spotted by VGC), while the four other games it launched alongside it remain.
Those who did try Build the Wall suggested it was clearly aimed to offend, not entertain. Aside from the criticism it received for its subject matter, which asked players to "protect the border from the incoming horde," players quickly realized the game itself didn't seem to be winnable at all. Instead of clearing filled lines, blocks would only continue to fall into place until reaching an inevitable ‘game over’ message when the screen was filled.
We don't know why the Tetris clone has disappeared, but we do know what followed after the Trump Administration launched Arcade.Gov. The website, which was marketed on social media with references to other gaming companies like Nintendo and Sega, quickly resulted in backlash online. The noise grew so loud so quickly that it didn't take long for The Tetris Company to respond.
"At Tetris, we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them," it said. "To our fans everywhere: we love you, we see you, and we're grateful to have you in our community."
Although The Tetris Company also said it takes "copyright infringement very seriously," it did not detail any specific plans to take action against Build the Wall. It elaborated on its feelings in a statement sent to The Verge at the time.
"For more than 40 years, Tetris has brought people together across generations and cultures through play and joy," it told the site. "The objective of the game has always been to stack with purpose to clear as many lines as possible. We are currently reviewing the matter."
IGN has reached out for comment.
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