As game workers, our day to day job can feel very removed from the genocide in Palestine, but there are often hidden ways in which they’re related. Game companies don’t usually contribute directly to the genocide, but the companies we work with sometimes do.
As workers within games companies, we can organise together and build the collective power to say we refuse to be complicit in genocide, imperialism, and militarism.
Below we have a small list of areas you could target and campaigns you could run. These are currently mainly focused on the BDS targets of Xbox and Microsoft, and if you sign up to our mailing list, you can receive future updates about further campaigns and calls to action for other targets in addition to Xbox.
You can move through these one at a time, maybe starting with the easier wins and building up to the bigger ones, depending on what makes sense for you, your fellow workers, and your games company.
If you’re in charge of decisions about which companies fund and publish the games you make, you might find it easier to figure out how to act on some of the points below. If you don’t directly control these decisions, we suggest getting organised in unions to pressure your company leadership to make these changes.
Remember, money and our technology are needed to commit atrocities in Palestine and beyond: this means that every company that gets involved, every small change that we can make, is another step towards putting a stop to this violence.
If you’re a game worker
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Don’t accept any funding from Xbox or Microsoft. We understand that funding is often hard to come by and that companies may already have contracts with Xbox or Microsoft. If you can cut ties now, that is ideal. If you can’t do that, then secure different funding for the next project.
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Don’t publish your game on Xbox or the Microsoft Store. If you have any upcoming releases, do not publish them on any Microsoft-owned platform. If you can, also remove games that are already published there. This is a big ask for many game companies and not something we ask lightly, so take steps to secure alternative revenue streams and ensure you’re financially able to do so.
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Engage with the players of your games and encourage them to take action from the calls to action for Gamers section on our site. The more people we can get taking action, the quicker we can end this genocide.
If you’d like support or advice on how to run campaigns like these, pop us an email at hello@nogamesforgenocide.com, we’ll be happy to help.