Maddy Thorson says Celeste and TowerFall were removed from Xbox to support the BDS boycott of Microsoft. Here is what is confirmed for buyers and existing owners.
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Celeste and TowerFall are gone from the Xbox Store
Celeste and TowerFall have been removed from the Xbox Store, and co-creator Maddy Thorson says the delistings were intentional. In a Bluesky post quoted by multiple outlets, including Rock Paper Shotgun, IGN, Polygon, Kotaku, Pure Xbox, and GamesRadar, Thorson wrote: “For those who’re asking, yes we delisted Celeste and TowerFall on XBox. We did this to support the BDS boycott.”
That short statement turns what first looked like a quiet storefront change into a clear political and platform decision. The immediate effect is simple for anyone searching the Celeste Xbox Store or looking for TowerFall on Xbox: according to the outlets that checked and reported the removals, the games are no longer available to buy through Microsoft’s console storefront. IGN, Polygon, Pure Xbox, and Rock Paper Shotgun all report that both titles remain available on other platforms, including PlayStation, Nintendo storefronts, and PC.
The move matters practically because Celeste is one of the defining precision platformers of the last decade, while TowerFall helped shape the modern local multiplayer indie scene. It also matters because this is not a new release skipping Xbox at launch. These are long-established games being pulled from sale after years on the platform, which raises a different question for players: what happens if you already bought them?
What Maddy Thorson has confirmed, and what has not been said
The confirmed explanation comes from Thorson’s Bluesky post. She said Celeste and TowerFall were delisted on Xbox to support the BDS boycott. IGN describes BDS, the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, as a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice, and equality. Polygon’s explainer, citing BDS material, describes it as an initiative modeled after boycott and divestment actions against apartheid-era South Africa.
Rock Paper Shotgun reports that a larger statement has not been made by other Celeste developers or by Thorson’s current studio, EXOK Games. That distinction is important. The public record provided in the source material is a concise statement from Thorson, not a detailed studio manifesto, policy document, or FAQ. IGN says it asked Microsoft for comment on the situation, but the provided source text does not include a Microsoft response.
That leaves several unanswered points. There is no sourced confirmation here of whether the delisting is temporary or permanent. There is no stated condition from Thorson under which Celeste or TowerFall would return to Xbox. There is also no announced change to the PlayStation, Nintendo, or PC versions. For readers searching “Extremely OK Games boycott,” the careful answer is that Thorson has confirmed the Xbox delisting was done in support of BDS, while the sources do not show a longer statement from EXOK or Extremely OK Games spelling out future platform policy.
Why Xbox specifically became the target
The platform choice is tied to Microsoft, Xbox’s parent company. Rock Paper Shotgun reports that BDS called for a boycott of Microsoft and Xbox games and hardware last year over Microsoft’s alleged and reported support for the Israeli military. In the same article, RPS says Microsoft confirmed it had supplied AI software to the Israeli military, and that Microsoft remains on the BDS boycott list because, according to BDS and reporting cited by RPS, it continues to provide other services to the Israeli military.
IGN frames the decision more broadly as a boycott of Microsoft for its involvement and investments with the Israeli government. Kotaku reports that No Games For Genocide, a collective of developers and other industry professionals, has urged a boycott of Xbox games and services as part of the larger BDS movement. These are reported claims from those outlets and organizations, not statements from Microsoft in the supplied material responding to the Celeste and TowerFall removals.
The key tension is that Xbox is being treated by participating developers as a Microsoft business unit, rather than as a neutral storefront separated from its parent company. That is why Celeste and TowerFall can remain available on PlayStation, Nintendo, and PC while being unavailable for new Xbox purchases. The delisting is not about the games’ content, age rating, or technical condition, based on the provided sources. It is a boycott action aimed at Microsoft and Xbox.
Existing owners should not need to rebuy elsewhere, based on current reports
For players who already own either game on Xbox, the best available guidance comes from Pure Xbox. The site reports that the removals do not appear to be a “hard delisting,” and says that if you own Celeste or TowerFall, they should still appear in your library. Pure Xbox also notes that Celeste was previously included in the Games with Gold program.
That wording deserves precision. “Should still appear” is not the same as a formal Xbox support statement, and the provided sources do not include a Microsoft FAQ, refund policy update, or official account-management notice. Still, storefront delistings commonly remove the option to purchase while leaving prior licenses accessible, and Pure Xbox’s report points in that direction for Celeste and TowerFall.
If you already bought Celeste on Xbox, or claimed it through Games with Gold when it was available there, check your owned library rather than the store listing. If you do not already own either game on Xbox, the current reports say you cannot buy them from the Xbox Store. Your available purchase routes, according to IGN and other outlets, are PlayStation, PC, and Switch for Celeste and TowerFall.
A sharper loss for Xbox because of what these games are
Celeste is not a disposable catalog footnote. Released in 2018, it became a touchstone for precision platforming, built around readable movement, demanding rooms, and a climbing structure that turns repeated failure into a core rhythm rather than a punishment. Kotaku’s source text notes its tight, challenging platforming, soundtrack, and emotional narrative, and says it won Best Independent Game at The Game Awards that year. Polygon calls it one of the best 2D platformers ever made.
TowerFall’s absence cuts differently. Polygon describes TowerFall: Ascension as a single-screen multiplayer action game and references its own earlier praise calling it a “gold standard” of the local multiplayer renaissance. Kotaku notes TowerFall first released in 2014 after beginning on Ouya, and characterizes it through the familiar shorthand of competitive archery party combat.
From a craft perspective, Xbox is losing access to two compact games that have aged well because their strengths are mechanical rather than seasonal. Celeste’s dash, wall-cling, stamina, and room-by-room checkpointing still make it one of the cleanest examples of hard platforming with generous structure. TowerFall’s appeal sits in instant readability: arrows, jumps, dodges, and tight arenas. Removing them from new Xbox sale shrinks the platform’s indie back catalog in a way players will feel most when recommending classics to someone who missed them the first time.
This follows Big Walk and points to a broader indie pressure campaign
Celeste and TowerFall are not the first indie games connected to the current Microsoft boycott. IGN, Polygon, Pure Xbox, Rock Paper Shotgun, and Kotaku all connect Thorson’s move to House House’s earlier announcement that Big Walk would not release on Xbox in support of BDS. Polygon quotes House House as saying it wanted Big Walk to be played by groups of friends and understood that keeping it off Xbox would disappoint some players, but that the studio would not bring the game to Xbox until Microsoft and/or Xbox were removed as BDS boycott targets.
Rock Paper Shotgun also points to Origame Digital’s Penguin Colony as another recent example of a developer making a pro-Palestinian statement in or around a game release, while Kotaku reports that Penguin Colony banned sale in Israel. The exact actions differ: Big Walk is skipping Xbox, Celeste and TowerFall have been removed from Xbox after release, and Penguin Colony’s action is described separately. Taken together, the sources present a small but visible group of indie developers using platform availability and storefront access as pressure points.
For Xbox players, the immediate guidance is straightforward. If Celeste or TowerFall is already in your library, look there rather than on the store page. If you planned to buy either game on Xbox and had not done so, the reported options are now other platforms. If you are waiting to see whether they return, there is no sourced timeline, condition, or Microsoft response in the provided material. The only confirmed reason for the Celeste delisted Xbox and TowerFall removed Xbox Store situation is the one Thorson gave publicly: support for the BDS boycott.