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Oli Welsh has been covering the business and culture of video games for two decades. He started out writing for Edge and other publications (specializing in MMOs and Blizzard, as cover for his World of Warcraft playtime) before joining Eurogamer, where he worked for 14 years as reviews editor, deputy editor, and editor-in-chief; Eurogamer won many Games Media Awards during his tenure. At Polygon, he writes about film and TV as well as games, and provides news, analysis, and criticism on the entertainment we love and the industries that make it, all from his home in London. He loves role-playing, racing, puzzles, tactics, exploration, storytelling, Nintendo, mysteries, spies, fantasy, reality, cars, and classic cinema. He wanted to be a movie critic when he grew up, and now he’s definitely grown up, and occasionally is one. He considers this a win.
Developer House House confirmed its stance in a statement
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Australian indie developer House House has explained that it has not released its acclaimed co-op adventure Big Walk on Xbox due to its support of 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."
"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, House House's follow-up to the much-loved Untitled Goose Game, is a multiplayer 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. It's the highest-profile game yet not to get an Xbox version as an explicit consequence of the boycott.