BDS Movement: Xbox Games & Oblivion Remastered Boycott
- (AP) — Microsoft's Xbox is facing growing calls for a boycott due to contracts between the tech giant and the Israeli military.
- The BDS movement, founded in 2005, advocates for Palestinian rights by pressuring businesses, institutions, and governments that maintain economic ties with Israel.
- At least one game developer has heeded the call. The team behind Tenderfoot Tactics removed their game from the Xbox Store in solidarity with the BDS movement.
Xbox Faces Boycott Calls Over Israeli Army Contracts
REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft’s Xbox is facing growing calls for a boycott due to contracts between the tech giant and the Israeli military. The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement is urging gamers to cancel Xbox Game Pass subscriptions and avoid purchasing Microsoft-owned games.
BDS Movement Targets Xbox
The BDS movement, founded in 2005, advocates for Palestinian rights by pressuring businesses, institutions, and governments that maintain economic ties with Israel. The movement recently set its sights on Xbox, urging consumers to boycott the platform and its games, including popular titles like Candy Crush, minecraft, Call of Duty, and the upcoming Oblivion Remastered.
Developer Pulls Game in Support
At least one game developer has heeded the call. The team behind Tenderfoot Tactics removed their game from the Xbox Store in solidarity with the BDS movement.
The Tenderfoot tactics team has decided to withdraw their selling game on Xbox in solidarity with the boycott campaign, disinvestment and sanctions led by the Palestinians, who added the xbox to its priority boycott list at the beginning of the month.
Tenderfoot Tactics Team
Microsoft’s Contracts with Israeli Military Under Scrutiny
The core of the boycott centers on contracts between Microsoft and the Israeli military. The Guardian reported in January that confidential documents revealed a strengthening of these relationships following Oct. 7, 2023. The Associated Press reported that the Israeli army’s use of Microsoft’s Azure cloud services has increased 200-fold sence late 2023.
Employee protests
The controversy has also spilled over into Microsoft’s internal affairs. During the company’s 50th-anniversary party,employees disrupted the event,wearing t-shirts with the message: “Does our code kill children,Satya?” – a direct question to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Security promptly escorted the protesting employees from the premises.
Xbox Silent on Boycott
As of Wednesday, xbox has not issued a public statement regarding the BDS movement’s boycott campaign.