adminThe Big Walk Xbox release has been put on hold by Melbourne-based developer House House. The studio says its decision reflects the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement’s call to boycott Microsoft, which includes Microsoft Games and Xbox among its priority targets. The move means Xbox players will not be able to join friends in the cooperative game for now.
Image credit: House House/Panic
Why House House paused the Big Walk Xbox release
House House said it had planned for groups of friends to play Big Walk together and recognised that leaving Xbox out would prevent some players from joining them. The developer acknowledged that this could disappoint players, but said it would not release the game on the platform while Microsoft or Xbox remained a BDS boycott target.
The studio described the decision as support for collective action and expressed hope that pressure could encourage change. Its position is conditional: House House said it would welcome the possibility of an Xbox release if Microsoft and/or Xbox were no longer included among the movement’s boycott targets. It did not announce a release date or say that a platform launch was guaranteed.
Practical takeaway: Xbox players should not assume the game will arrive on the platform unless House House provides a further update. The announcement concerns Xbox availability; it does not, by itself, provide details about other platforms.
Other game developers responding to the boycott
House House is not the only game developer to take action connected to the campaign. Independent developer Dan Dilorio, known for Luck be a Landlord, asked players not to buy the game on Xbox. Dilorio also announced plans to donate $10,000 to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, describing the donation as an effort to offset revenue the game had generated for Microsoft.
Speculative Agency, the studio behind All Will Rise, said it was considering joining No Games for Genocide. Doing so could involve returning funding received through a Microsoft developer acceleration programme deal. The studio noted that leaving the arrangement would require Microsoft’s agreement, and that replacing the funding would be difficult in a challenging game-development market. It also recognised that stepping away could reduce the game’s potential audience and increase financial risk, but said the campaign’s potential to pressure Microsoft was important to its decision.
Ice Water removed Tenderfoot Tactics from Xbox in support of BDS. The studio called for broader pressure against occupation and apartheid in Palestine and elsewhere. Separately, members of the STJV union at Arkane Studios issued an open letter to studio, ZeniMax, Microsoft and Microsoft Gaming leadership, calling on Microsoft to stop supporting Israel.
Microsoft, BDS and the wider debate
The article’s account says the BDS campaign targeting Microsoft began in April 2025, with a stated aim of challenging the company’s alleged complicity in Israel’s actions and its treatment of Palestinians. Following the announcement, more than 2,000 Microsoft employees signed the No Azure for Apartheid petition. The petition called for an independent third-party audit of the company’s contracts, services and products to assess whether they were involved in human-rights violations.
In May 2025, Microsoft said an internal review had found no evidence to date that its technologies were used to target or harm people in the Gaza conflict. The company acknowledged providing the Israel Ministry of Defence with software, professional services, Azure cloud and AI services. These are Microsoft’s reported findings and statements; they do not resolve the broader dispute between the company, campaigners and developers.
What the Big Walk Xbox decision means for players
For players, the immediate consequence is straightforward: House House is withholding Big Walk from Xbox while Microsoft and/or Xbox remain BDS boycott targets. The decision also highlights a wider tension facing independent studios: developers may weigh political commitments against funding arrangements, platform reach and the ability to bring friends together in a multiplayer game.
The Big Walk Xbox release could be reconsidered if the boycott designation changes, but House House has not promised that it will happen. Players looking for confirmation should rely on a future statement from the developer rather than assume that the game’s availability will change.
