Celeste and TowerFall Pulled from Xbox as Developer Joins Microsoft Boycott

Celeste and TowerFall have been removed from Xbox, with the developer citing a boycott of Microsoft over its involvement and investments with the Israeli government. Maddy Thorson, the creator behind both titles, confirmed on Bluesky that her team had delisted the games from the platform. The games are no longer available for purchase on Xbox, surprising some fans. Thorson explained that the decision was made in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which describes itself as a "Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality." IGN has reached out to Microsoft for comment. The BDS movement targets companies that are involved with or invested in the Israeli government amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. Celeste and TowerFall are not the first games to be pulled from Xbox due to this movement. Earlier this fall, the co-op adventure game Big Walk opted not to release on Xbox, citing the boycott as the reason. The team noted that if Microsoft divests from its Israeli ties and is removed from the BDS targets list, Big Walk would be brought to Xbox. "We have made the decision not to release Big Walk on Xbox, in accordance with the Palestinian-led BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement’s call to boycott Microsoft, and their designation of Microsoft Games (and Xbox) as a priority boycott target," said Big Walk developer House House at the time. "If you need help understanding our motives, we would recommend reading about why Microsoft is a BDS priority target, the successes this kind of pressure has already had on Microsoft, and especially, watching this great introductory piece by People Make Games." Celeste and TowerFall have both been available for some time, with TowerFall released in 2013 and Celeste in 2018. Both games remain available for purchase on PlayStation, PC, and Switch.