Maddy Thorson confirmed today that Celeste and TowerFall were delisted from the Xbox Store in support of the BDS boycott against Microsoft. Polygon notes that a few weeks ago, House House kept Big Walk off Xbox over the same boycott. Here's what happened, what owners keep, and where you can still play.
Two of the most loved indie games on Xbox are gone from the store. Celeste and TowerFall were delisted from the Xbox Store today, October 29, and developer Maddy Thorson confirmed on Bluesky that it was on purpose, to support the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement, which lists Microsoft as a boycott target.
Here’s exactly what Thorson posted at 10:40 AM ET:
“For those who’re asking, yes we delisted Celeste and TowerFall on XBox. We did this to support the BDS boycott”
Maddy Thorson (@maddymakesgames.com), Bluesky, Oct 29, 2026
There was no advance warning. Players noticed the store pages were gone this morning, and Thorson’s post came after people started asking.
If you own Celeste on Xbox, it’s still yours. If you don’t, the store page is gone.
What you need to know
- What’s gone: Celeste (2018) and TowerFall Ascension are no longer for sale on the Xbox Store.
- Who did it: the developer, Maddy Makes Games (Maddy Thorson led both games). This was not Microsoft pulling the games.
- Why: Thorson says it’s to support the BDS boycott. BDS targets Microsoft over its Azure cloud and AI contracts with the Israeli military, according to the movement’s own site, as reported by Polygon.
- Already own them? Pure Xbox reports it doesn’t look like a hard delisting, so the games should stay in your library and you should still be able to download them. Celeste was a Games with Gold title years ago, so a lot of Xbox players already have it.
- Where you can still buy them: both games are still sold on PC (Steam) and other platforms. Only the Xbox Store versions were pulled.
- Microsoft’s response: we haven’t seen any public comment from Microsoft or Xbox as of 3:06 PM ET.
How we got here
It isn’t the first indie studio to make an Xbox call over the BDS boycott. A few weeks ago, as Polygon notes, House House, the team behind Untitled Goose Game, said its new game Big Walk would not come to Xbox for the same reason. Polygon quotes House House’s statement: “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.”
Kotaku also points to No Games For Genocide, a collective of developers and gaming workers pushing a boycott of Xbox games and services as part of the wider BDS movement.
The difference this time: Big Walk never launched on Xbox. Celeste and TowerFall were already there, sold for years, and just got pulled.
What people are saying
The news spread fast on X today, with reactions split between people praising Thorson for standing on principle and Xbox players asking why fans lose access to buy a game over a fight with Microsoft’s cloud business.
OnPoint’s take: A developer gets to decide where they sell their own game, period, and Maddy Thorson made Celeste one of the best platformers ever. Respect the work. But here’s the part that stings: the people who feel this first are Xbox players who wanted to buy a great game, on the platform that gave Celeste a huge audience through Games with Gold in the first place. Good news for you: if you own it, it should still be in your library, so download it now just to be safe. If you don’t own it, it’s on Steam, and if you’re on an Xbox Ally handheld or a gaming PC, you can still play it tonight. What we’ll be watching is whether this stays a couple of indie studios or turns into a real trend, and whether Xbox says anything at all. Our money is on Xbox staying quiet and letting its library and Game Pass do the talking.
Sources
- Polygon, “Celeste and Towerfall delisted from Xbox as dev joins boycott” (Oct 29, 2026)
- Pure Xbox, Celeste developer statement (Oct 29, 2026)
- The Verge (Oct 29, 2026)
- Kotaku (Oct 29, 2026)
- Maddy Thorson on Bluesky (@maddymakesgames.com), Oct 29, 2026, 10:40 AM ET (quoted via Polygon, Pure Xbox and Kotaku)
- Power Up Gaming on X
Image: Maddy Makes Games / Matt Makes Games key art, OnPoint 4 Gamers
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