‘To them, we’re just NPCs’: the artists and activists challenging Trump’s video game propaganda
However, aside from a March 2026 statement from the Pokémon Company condemning the White House for using its characters in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) propaganda, major video game companies have been relatively silent in the face of the administration’s widespread usage of their IP.
Key points
- There have recently been some new additions: a Temple Run clone named Red Scare about crossing the “ration market” and escaping the Democratic Socialists of America, and another simple item-matching game about the threat of socialism.
- Named simply Arcade, it is a collection of browser games based on classic titles such as Flappy Bird, Snake, and Tetris, but re-tuned as flagrant works of political propaganda.
- The Tetris Company warned on social media that it “took copyright infringement very seriously.” Days later, the game was removed from the White House site.
In the midst of increasing fuel, utility and grocery prices thanks to the Iran war, these were naked attempts to distract voters by appealing to their video game nostalgia.
Additional details
- Designed to court reactionary gamers, they push the administration’s policies on immigration and other hot-button issues, while dehumanising their targets.
- After an explosion of news coverage, Arcade caught the attention of the games industry.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
Advertisement
Every article behind this summary — 1 article from 1 outlet
Get stories like this in your inbox.
Subscribe — it's freeOne free email at 6am — your topics, deduplicated, five minutes. No account, no paywall.