Celeste and TowerFall have been taken off sale on Xbox, and co-creator Maddy Thorson says it was a deliberate choice: “We did this to support the BDS boycott,” she wrote in a Bluesky post on October 29. Players noticed Celeste had vanished from the Xbox Store first, and the studio confirmed that TowerFall went with it.
The games are made by Extremely OK Games, the team behind the 2018 platformer and the older archery brawler. According to Pure Xbox, both remain on sale on PlayStation, Nintendo and PC storefronts, and anyone who already owns them on Xbox should still find them in their library.
What happened to Celeste and TowerFall on Xbox?
Celeste was pulled from the Xbox Store on October 29, according to Pure Xbox, and TowerFall Ascension was later found to be gone as well. Shacknews reported that Xbox users began noticing the missing listing over the previous day.
The site describes the move as a delisting rather than a hard removal. New buyers cannot purchase the games on Xbox, but existing owners keep access.
What did the developer say?
Thorson answered questions about it on Bluesky with a short statement: “For those who’re asking, yes we delisted Celeste and TowerFall on XBox. We did this to support the BDS boycott.” That is all the sources quote, and no longer explanation has been reported.
BDS stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, a Palestinian-led movement. Shacknews notes that Microsoft, the owner of Xbox, appears on the movement’s website, and Pure Xbox says the movement asks for a boycott of Microsoft-owned businesses such as Xbox.
Is this the first indie game to step away from Xbox?
No. Pure Xbox and Kotaku both point to Big Walk, the co-op game from House House, which has never launched on Xbox. House House said earlier this month that it would not release the game there, and told players it would love to see it on Xbox once Microsoft and Xbox are no longer BDS boycott targets.
Kotaku also mentions the collective No Games For Genocide, which urges a boycott of Xbox games and services, and the game Penguin Colony, whose developers banned its sale in Israel as a stand on the same movement.
What are the two games?
- Celeste: a platformer from 2018 that follows Madeline up a mountain. Released on Xbox, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch. Kotaku notes it won Best Indie Game at The Game Awards that year, and Pure Xbox says it was once part of Games with Gold.
- TowerFall: an archery combat game that first launched in 2014, initially on the Ouya, with TowerFall Ascension as the version found on Xbox One.
Prices
None of the sources list a price for either game on Xbox, in Canadian or US dollars, and the listings are gone for new buyers anyway. For the other platforms, check the current price on the PlayStation Store, Nintendo eShop or your PC storefront of choice, because the sources do not give figures and prices vary by store and sale.
Who it suits
Xbox players who already own the games. Nothing changes for you according to Pure Xbox: both titles should still appear in your library and can be reinstalled from there.
Xbox players who wanted to buy now. You can no longer purchase either game from the Xbox Store. The games remain on sale on PlayStation, Nintendo and PC storefronts, so a copy on another platform is the route the reports point to.
Game Pass and Games with Gold followers. Celeste was once part of Games with Gold, and Pure Xbox does not say whether any current subscription arrangement is affected. Check your own subscription library before relying on either title.
Readers following the wider industry. This is the second Xbox story from independent studios in about two weeks, after House House and Big Walk, and it is worth watching whether other small teams follow.
What is still unknown
Microsoft has not been quoted in any of the reports, and none of them say whether the delisting is permanent or whether the studio plans to restore the games. Kotaku does not say whether the games stay available on other storefronts, while Pure Xbox does, so the platform details above rest on Pure Xbox.
What to do next
If you own either game on Xbox, open your library and confirm it is still listed there. For updates on whether the listings return, watch Thorson’s Bluesky account and the studio’s official pages, and check the Xbox Store listing yourself.
