Big Walk Creators Issue Brutal Official Xbox Update

Big Walk Won't Come To Xbox While BDS Boycott Continues Published Oct 15, 2026, 3:23 AM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 3,000 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, provided context on some AI drama, and revealed that Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on three occasions. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. Sign in to your TheGamer account Big Walk is one of the biggest surprises of 2026. Created by House House (Untitled Goose Game), its August release caught many off guard, scoring 91 on Metacritic, earning huge praise from players, and cementing its place as a Game of the Year contender for the upcoming awards season. The game launched on PlayStation 5, PC, and the Nintendo Switch 2, but was conspicuously absent from Xbox. Two months later, its developers have confirmed why, citing Microsoft's inclusion as a target of the BDS Boycott. Big Walk Is Skipping Xbox While Palestinian-led BDS Boycott Continues House House The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement is a Palestinian-led boycott that targets Israel and companies associated with it. It aims to use economic and political pressure to push the country to comply with international law. Microsoft, and therefore Xbox, is included in this due to its continued supply of cloud computing and AI services to the Israeli military. It's because of this boycott that Big Walk will not be coming to Xbox platforms any time soon. "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," a statement from House House reads. "It has always been our intention for Big Walk to be played by groups of friends, and we know that keeping the game off Xbox runs counter to those intentions. This decision means that some people will miss out on playing Big Walk with their friends, and we understand the disappointment we’re causing. We are disappointed too. "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. "We’ve made this decision with the belief that meaningful change can be made in the world, that coordinated collective action can confront even the most powerful interests, and that one day, Palestine will be free. Thank you for your understanding." The boycott has already had some impact on Microsoft, with the company blocking Israel's use of its tech to mass surveil Palestinian residents. While several smaller games, like Luck Be a Landlord, have removed their games from the Xbox store or called for players not to purchase on the platform, this is arguably the biggest example of a studio boycotting Microsoft during its launch window. TheGamer has reached out to Xbox for comment. Released August 4, 2026 Developer(s) House House Publisher(s) Panic Multiplayer Online Co-Op Cross-Platform Play Full Genre(s) Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle