House House says it will not release Big Walk on Xbox because Microsoft is on BDS boycott

House House, the indie studio behind Big Walk, has said it will not release an Xbox version of the game because Microsoft appears on the BDS boycott list. The studio announced the decision in a blog post that The Verge dated Oct 15, 2026 and in a social-media post cited by Eurogamer, and said that keeping the game off Xbox conflicts with its aim for Big Walk to be played by groups of friends. House House framed the choice as a political one, writing in the social-media post that it hopes "meaningful change can be made in the world" and stating "one day, Palestine will be free."

Eurogamer published the studio’s social-media statement and quoted the team saying, "We are disappointed too," noting the decision excludes Xbox players from receiving an Xbox version of Big Walk. Eurogamer added context from BDS explaining that Microsoft’s placement on the boycott list is tied to what BDS describes as Microsoft’s partnership with Israel and its prison system. The Verge’s coverage attributes the announcement to House House’s Oct 15, 2026 blog post and repeats the studio’s line about believing in coordinated collective action. House House told Eurogamer that the absence of an Xbox edition runs counter to the studio’s stated design goal for Big Walk, which the Eurogamer piece described as intended for groups of friends to play together. Eurogamer also reported that Big Walk has been commercially successful: it sold over one million copies in under a week after its release on the 4th August, according to that article’s text. The decision and the language House House used make the studio’s political rationale explicit: the developer tied its platform choice to participation in the BDS boycott and to broader political aims expressed in its statement. Eurogamer printed direct quotes from the studio’s social-media post, while The Verge recorded the date of the blog post announcing the choice. Headlines from other outlets corroborate that the studio declined an Xbox release citing a boycott but do not add further text-based details beyond the central claim; Windows Report, TheSixthAxis and GameDaily ran headlines stating House House joined a boycott and skipped an Xbox release. The available reporting does not include an official response from Microsoft in the texts provided. The public messages from House House identify the studio as the actor making the distribution decision, name Microsoft/Xbox as the target of the boycott, and state the developer’s political reasoning in its own words. The available coverage links the platform decision directly to the studio’s participation in the BDS boycott and cites the studio’s stated wish that the game eventually be available on Xbox only if Microsoft/Xbox are removed from BDS lists.