House House Blocks Big Walk on Xbox Over BDS Campaign

House House Blocks Big Walk on Xbox Over BDS Campaign

October 15, 2026 Rachel Kim โ€“ Technology Editor Technology

House House Blocks Big Walk on Xbox Over Microsoft BDS Campaign

Melbourne-based developer House House has confirmed that its cooperative puzzle game Big Walk will not be released on Xbox, citing support for the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign. The studio issued a public statement explaining that the decision aligns with the movement’s designation of Microsoft and Xbox as priority boycott targets due to Microsoft’s partnership with Israel and its prison system or Azure cloud and AI services.

The Tech TL;DR:

  • House House withheld its breakout hit Big Walk from Xbox consoles entirely, restricting the game to Steam, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.
  • The studio justified the platform omission by citing the BDS movement’s call to boycott Microsoft over its Azure cloud and AI services provided to the Israel Ministry of Defence.
  • Other indie developers, including the creators of Tenderfoot Tactics and Luck be a Landlord, have similarly pulled games or redirected revenues away from Microsoft ecosystems.

Studio Explains Co-op Game Absence on Microsoft Consoles

Big Walk launched on August 4, selling over one million copies across PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2 within its first week. Despite the game’s commercial success and design focus on group play, House House chose to bypass Xbox entirely.

introductory piece by People Make Games

We would love for people to be able to play the game on Xbox, but not until Microsoft and/or Xbox have been removed as BDS boycott targets. Weโ€™ve made this decision with the belief that meaningful change can be made in the world, that coordinated collective action can confront even the most powerful interests, and that one day, Palestine will be free.

Indie Developers Distance Themselves from Microsoft Platforms

The decision by House House joins a growing pattern of independent developers distancing themselves from Microsoft platforms. Indie developer Ice Water Games previously removed Tenderfoot Tactics from Xbox in support of the BDS movement. Meanwhile, Dan Dilorio asked players not to purchase Luck be a Landlord on Xbox, supplementing the protest by donating $10,000 to The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund to offset revenue generated for Microsoft.

Other studios have weighed the financial risks of breaking contractual acceleration program deals. Speculative Agency expressed interest in joining the No Games for Genocide campaign regarding its title All Will Rise, noting that it would require returning some Microsoft funding received through a developer acceleration programme deal. Inside Microsoft, worker activism has also surfaced; more than 2,000 employees signed the “No Azure for Apartheid” petition following the launch of the BDS campaign in April 2025, demanding independent audits of contracts and services.

A collection of three-blobbed people who look a bit like upright ants stand in a sandy beach gathering. one of them
Photo: Eurogamer.net
# Example: Checking cross-platform deployment targets in a project manifest
{
  "name": "big-walk- deployment-config",
  "supported_platforms": [
    "steam",
    "playstation-5",
    "switch-2"
  ],
  "excluded_vendors": [
    "microsoft-xbox"
  ]
}

Microsoft Review Finds No Evidence of Harmful Technology Use

Microsoft conducted an internal review in May 2025 regarding its enterprise and cloud agreements. While acknowledging that it supplies software, professional services, and Azure cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure to the Israel Ministry of Defence, the review concluded there was no evidence those technologies had been used to target or harm people in the Gaza conflict. Despite this finding, union members at Arkane Studios STJV published open letters urging leadership to sever ties, keeping the intersection of corporate enterprise contracts and game publishing pipelines under continuous scrutiny across the industry.

Disclaimer: The technical analyses and security protocols detailed in this article are for informational purposes only. Always consult with certified IT and cybersecurity professionals before altering enterprise networks or handling sensitive data.

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