Indie developer Maddy Makes Games has delisted Celeste and TowerFall from Xbox to support the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
According to GamesRadar, players noticed both games were removed from the platform yesterday. Maddy Thorson later confirmed this on social media.
“For those who’re asking, yes we delisted Celeste and TowerFall on Xbox,” Thorson wrote. “We did this to support the BDS boycott.”
Maddy Makes Games is among several developers supporting the BDS boycott. Most recently, Big Walk developer House House announced it would not release its co-op game on Xbox.
“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 these intentions,” the developer said.
“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.”
Other developers supporting the boycott include Ice Water, creator of Tenderfoot Tactics; Speculative Agency, developer of All Will Rise; and Dan Dilorio, creator of Luck be a Landlord.
The BDS boycott was established following concerns that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies were being used by the Israeli Ministry of Defence (IMOD) “to target civilians or cause harm in the conflict in Gaza,” according to an Associated Press investigation.
Microsoft acknowledged that it provides the IMOD “with software, professional services, Azure cloud and AI services,” but concluded after its own internal review that it has “no evidence to date” that its technology has “been used to target or harm people” in the ongoing conflict.