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Celeste and TowerFall pulled from Xbox as Maddy Thorson joins BDS boycott

Both games are gone from the Xbox Store but still on sale on PlayStation, Nintendo and PC, and Thorson says the move is about Microsoft, not players.

GameCelesteXbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PC

Brutal Combo Newsroom

· 2 min read

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The short version

  1. Celeste and TowerFall can no longer be bought on Xbox.
  2. Maddy Thorson says it's in support of the BDS boycott of Microsoft.
  3. Both games are still available on PlayStation, Nintendo and PC.

Celeste and TowerFall have been removed from the Xbox Store. Developer Maddy Thorson confirmed on Bluesky that her team pulled both games in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement's boycott of Microsoft.

The removal wasn't announced ahead of time. Celeste's disappearance from the store was spotted first, and TowerFall was found to be missing shortly after, which caught some players off guard.

BDS describes itself as a "Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality." It targets companies involved with or invested in the Israeli government, and Microsoft's gaming division is one of those targets, according to IGN's report.

If you want to play either game, you've still got options. Both remain available on PlayStation, Nintendo and PC storefronts, so this only affects buying them on Xbox.

Thorson's team isn't the first indie developer to make this call. Earlier this fall, House House said its co-op game Big Walk would not launch on Xbox, citing the same boycott.

"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," House House said at the time.

House House added that Big Walk would come to Xbox if Microsoft divested from its Israeli ties and was removed from the list of BDS targets.

IGN says it has asked Microsoft for comment.

What we don’t know yet

  • Microsoft hasn't responded publicly to the delisting.
  • Thorson hasn't said whether the games could return to Xbox if Microsoft stops being a BDS target.
  • It isn't clear what happens to existing Xbox owners' access to the games.

Sources & updates

  • Published Oct 30, 2026

Brutal Combo is a news aggregator that adds commentary on top of the sources above. It is not hands-on or original reporting. Terms of Use