Celeste and TowerFall disappeared from the Xbox store on October 29, 2026, and the person who made them says that was the plan. Developer Maddy Thorson confirmed on Bluesky that the Celeste and TowerFall delisting on Xbox was deliberate, writing: "We did this to support the BDS boycott." Both games remain on sale on PlayStation, PC and Switch.
This is one of the clearer examples yet of independent developers using the storefront itself as a protest lever, and it lands in a busy month for Xbox news. Below we separate what the developer and Microsoft have actually said from what is still unknown, and what it means if you play either game with friends.
TL;DR: the Celeste and TowerFall delisting
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What happened? | Celeste and TowerFall were removed from sale on Xbox, noticed by players on October 29, 2026 |
| Was it a bug or licensing issue? | No. Maddy Thorson says it was intentional |
| Why? | In support of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, which lists Xbox as a target |
| Where can I still buy them? | PlayStation, PC and Switch, per Eurogamer |
| What about existing Xbox owners? | Not addressed in the coverage we found |
| Has Microsoft responded to this delisting? | We found no statement about these two games |
| Is this a one-off? | No. Several indie developers have taken similar steps |
What did Maddy Thorson actually say?
The statement is short. Quoted by Eurogamer and GamesIndustry.biz from a Bluesky post:
"For those who're asking, yes we delisted Celeste and TowerFall on Xbox. We did this to support the BDS boycott."
Per GamesIndustry.biz, players noticed both games were gone from the platform on October 29, and Thorson confirmed it afterwards on social media. The studio behind them is listed as Maddy Makes Games. Eurogamer adds that the games are "now completely unavailable for purchase within the Xbox ecosystem."
We did not find a longer statement, a FAQ or any detail on timing for a return. If the developers publish one, we will update this post.
Is this about the platform or the company?
The reporting frames it as a boycott of Microsoft and Xbox as a company, not a complaint about the store's terms. That distinction matters for readers who ask whether this is a dispute over revenue share or certification: nothing we found suggests it is. It is a political decision made by the rights holder, which a platform generally cannot block, since publishers control whether their titles are listed.
What is the BDS boycott, and what has Microsoft said?
BDS stands for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, a Palestinian-led campaign. According to Eurogamer, the movement lists Xbox because of Microsoft's partnership with Israel, including Azure cloud and AI services. It has urged people to cancel Game Pass subscriptions, boycott major Xbox franchises (the article names Call of Duty and Candy Crush) and stop buying Microsoft gaming products.
Microsoft's position, as summarized by GamesIndustry.biz: the company acknowledges it provides the Israeli Ministry of Defence "with software, professional services, Azure cloud and AI services," but says its own internal review found "no evidence to date" that its technology had "been used to target or harm people" in the conflict in Gaza. GamesIndustry.biz notes the boycott grew out of concerns raised in an Associated Press investigation; Eurogamer says various reports dispute Microsoft's conclusion. We are reporting both sides' claims, not adjudicating them.
Which other developers have done the same?
Thorson is not the first. The coverage names:
- House House, the Australian developer of the co-op game Big Walk, said Big Walk will not release on Xbox. Their statement: "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 these intentions."
- Ice Water, creator of Tenderfoot Tactics, did the same in 2025, per Eurogamer.
- Speculative Agency (All Will Rise) and Dan Dilorio (Luck be a Landlord) are also named by GamesIndustry.biz as supporting the boycott.
The House House quote is worth noticing because it admits the cost. A co-op game built for groups of friends is exactly the kind of title where console platform gaps hurt. If a friend plays on Xbox and the rest are elsewhere, the group is split.
What does this mean for playing with friends?
Celeste is a solo platformer, but TowerFall is a couch-competitive archery game that has long been a party staple. If your group's gaming night depends on one person's Xbox, a delisting means you cannot send them the game from the store today. Both titles remain buyable on Switch, PlayStation and PC, and TowerFall's PC and Switch versions cover most living-room setups.
That cross-platform gap is a recurring headache for team and friend groups. Platform-locked libraries make shared sessions harder; this is one reason browser games, which need only a link, keep winning for office use. Our guide to no-download team-building games covers options that work regardless of what console anyone owns, and bunpav's play page hosts free browser games you can start in seconds.
What should you do now?
- Check your Xbox library. If you already own either game, confirm it still appears under your purchases and is installed; stores normally stop new sales without removing existing licences, but nobody has confirmed that here.
- Download and keep local copies. If you own them and care about long-term access, install now. Our post on Sega pulling Total War: Shogun 2 from sale explains what delisting does and does not change for owners.
- Buy elsewhere if you want a new copy. Use PlayStation, Switch or PC storefronts listed by the developer.
- Read the developers' own words. Follow Thorson's Bluesky and the studio's pages for updates rather than relying on summaries.
- Decide for yourself. This is a values-based choice by developers and by players; reasonable people disagree about boycotts, and bunpav takes no side here beyond reporting what was said.
Does this change anything about digital ownership?
It reignites an old debate. A digital purchase is a licence, and the seller or publisher can pull a listing at will. That is why legislative proposals like the one we covered in the Power to the Players Act keep surfacing. Here the delisting is voluntary and by the creator, so it is a different case from a publisher removal, but the lesson for players is the same: keep your own backups where terms allow.
For Xbox, the story compounds a rough autumn of platform headlines, from cloud gaming caps (Xbox Cloud Gaming hour caps) to the reported next-gen pricing (Project Helix pricing report) and earlier Xbox layoffs and the union protest. Whether a handful of indie delistings moves anything commercially is doubtful: Celeste and TowerFall are small slices of Xbox's catalogue. The signal is reputational, and the number of developers willing to publicly leave is rising.
Why delist instead of just posting a statement?
A statement costs nothing and changes nothing. Pulling a game from a storefront is a visible, measurable act: sales on that platform stop, the page goes dark and players start asking why, which is exactly how this story reached the press. Players noticed the removal first, and the developer confirmed it only after people asked. That sequence is the point of the tactic; the absence becomes the announcement.
It also carries a real cost to the developer. Xbox is a smaller market for many indies than PC or Switch, but it is not zero, and Eurogamer's reporting makes clear the games are now "completely unavailable for purchase" there. Big Walk's makers said openly that staying off Xbox "runs counter" to their own intentions for a game meant for groups of friends. Developers making this call are accepting lost revenue and a smaller audience on principle.
There is a practical wrinkle for anyone who covers or plays these games: a boycott list is maintained by the movement, not by Microsoft, so the set of affected titles can grow without any notice from the platform. That is why the honest summary is a short one: a rights holder chose to stop selling, said why in one sentence, and the rest, from owner access to future relisting, is unanswered.
What is still unknown?
- Whether existing Xbox owners keep full access and DLC or updates.
- Whether other titles from the studio are affected.
- Any Microsoft or Xbox comment on these delistings specifically.
- How many Xbox sales the two games represent, which has not been reported.
Other game news today
FromSoftware takes Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3 servers offline. On October 30 the studio tweeted that, "Due to a server issue," the servers for both games "will be temporarily unavailable on all platforms," with no restoration time given, so invasions, summon signs and messages are down (Eurogamer). The same report notes FromSoftware also moved The Duskbloods' launch window to 2027 this week.
Hacker News is playing a flying-cat browser game. A solo developer's free multiplayer game Catcopter reached 80 points on Show HN on October 30; we dug into it in our Catcopter write-up.
Related reading
- Sega pulls Total War: Shogun 2 Complete Edition from sale
- Power to the Players Act and digital game ownership
- Xbox Cloud Gaming hour caps from November 2026
- Next-gen Xbox Project Helix: reported vs. confirmed
- No-download team-building games
- Eurogamer on the Celeste and TowerFall delisting
- GamesIndustry.biz on the delisting
Facts are accurate as of October 31, 2026. Store listings and developer statements can change quickly, so check the linked sources for updates.