House House backs Microsoft boycott, confirms Big Walk won’t come to Xbox

By Jake Campbell•15 October 2026

✓ Fact-Checked & Verified

House House, the Melbourne studio behind Untitled Goose Game and its latest co-op puzzler Big Walk, has become the latest high-profile developer to support the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement’s boycott of Microsoft.

In a post, the developers said they have been observing the boycott — called in 2025 in protest of Microsoft’s business ties with the Israeli military — for some time, citing it as the reason Big Walk launched without an Xbox release alongside its PC, PS5, and Switch 2 versions.

“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,” the post reads. “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.”

The studio added: “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.”

House House said it had made the 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.”

While pro-Palestinian sentiment among game developers isn’t uncommon, such high-profile rejections of Microsoft hardware remain relatively rare. House House now join developers like All Will Rise studio Speculative Agency and Tenderfoot Tactics designer badru in publicly divesting from Xbox, protesting what the UN designates as a genocide against Palestinians.

Many of Microsoft’s own staff have also spoken out against maintaining business relationships with Israel, including developers at the (currently) MS-owned Arkane Studios (including developers).

House House has been open in its support for Palestine since at least 2023. The studio is also a vocal advocate of the Pay the Rent movement, pledging at least 1% of income to Indigenous groups as restitution for games “made on stolen Wurundjeri land” (vocal advocates).