•Australian indie developer House House has explained why it did not release its acclaimed co-op adventure Big Walk on Xbox, citing its support for the aims of BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions), the pro-Palestinian human rights movement.
Xbox owner Microsoft is designated a priority boycott target by BDS, which describes it as “perhaps the most complicit tech company in Israel’s illegal apartheid regime and ongoing genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.” House House said in a statement that keeping Big Walk off Xbox runs counter to its intentions for the game.
“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 said in a statement. “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.”
House House continued: “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. We’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.”
Microsoft supplies the Israeli government and military with services including AI and cloud services, including “combat and intelligence services,” according to reporting by The Guardian and others. The BDS movement has had some success in applying pressure to Microsoft; in September 2025, the company reportedly cut off Israel’s access to cloud tech that was being used in the mass surveillance of Palestinian people.
Big Walk is House House’s follow-up to the much-lovedUntitled Goose Game, a multigiocatore adventure in which a group of friends embody stick figures, explore a natural landscape together, and solve puzzles. It’s one of the best-reviewed games of 2026, and a leading indie contender as the end-of-year awards and accolades season begins.
The game is the highest-profile game yet not to get an Xbox version as an explicit consequence of the boycott.
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