Australian developer House House says its cooperative game Big Walk will not be released on Xbox while Microsoft and Xbox remain targets of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The studio has described the decision as support for the movement’s call to boycott Microsoft’s gaming business.
House House said the choice conflicts with its original aim of making the game something groups of friends could play together. The studio acknowledged that excluding Xbox means some players will not be able to join friends on the platform and said it understood the disappointment. It has nevertheless said it would reconsider only if Microsoft and Xbox are no longer included among the movement’s boycott targets.
The decision has drawn attention to the way political advocacy is shaping choices in the video-game industry. BDS identifies Microsoft Games and Xbox as priority targets in its campaign, while the company has faced criticism from activists over its business ties to Israel. Those are the campaign’s stated grounds for the boycott; Microsoft’s position is separate.
The dispute leaves Xbox players without access to Big Walk on their console and has prompted debate about whether a studio’s boycott decision can be reconciled with a game designed for shared play. House House has not announced a change to its position.
