House House Skips Xbox Release of Big Walk Over Microsoft BDS Boycott

Melbourne-based developer House House announced that its co-op puzzle game Big Walk will not launch on Xbox due to the studio’s support for the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign. The decision blocks the game from Microsoft’s platform until the company is removed from the boycott targets list.

House House Pulls Big Walk From Xbox

House House released a public statement detailing the platform omission for Big Walk. “We have made the decision not to release Big Walk on Xbox, in accordance with the Palestinian-led BDS movement’s call to boycott Microsoft, and their designation of Microsoft Games (and Xbox) as a priority boycott target,” the developer wrote. Eurogamer.net reported that the title sold over one million copies within its first week following its August 4 release.

The studio acknowledged the impact on players who intended to experience the co-op title with friends on Microsoft hardware. “It has always been our intention for Big Walk to be played by groups of friends, and we know that keeping the game off Xbox runs counter to those intentions,” House House stated. “This decision means that some people will miss out on playing Big Walk with their friends, and we understand the disappointment we’re causing. We are disappointed too.”

Developer Responses Across the Industry

Other independent creators are also navigating similar platform and funding dilemmas connected to the BDS movement. Dan Dilorio, developer of Luck be a Landlord, asked players to avoid purchasing the game on Xbox and announced plans to donate $10,000 to The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund to offset revenue generated for Microsoft.

Speculative Agency, the developer behind All Will Rise, evaluated joining the No Games for Genocide campaign. That participation requires returning Microsoft funding secured through a developer acceleration program deal. “We would have to ask Microsoft to let us break our contract and somehow make up the shortfall of funds at a time where funding is extremely difficult to come by in the industry,” the studio stated to PC Gamer. Ice Water, another indie developer, removed Tenderfoot Tactics from Xbox in support of the BDS campaign.

Microsoft Azure and Internal Reviews

The BDS movement targeted Microsoft in April 2025 to protest the company’s contracts with the Israeli military. Following that campaign launch, more than 2,000 Microsoft employees signed the No Azure for Apartheid petition, demanding an independent third-party audit of company contracts and cloud services.

In May 2025, Microsoft completed an internal review acknowledging that it provides the Israel Ministry of Defence with Azure cloud, AI services, and professional software. However, the company maintained that its review found no evidence that these technologies were used to target or harm people in the Gaza conflict.

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