You don’t have to be a games industry worker, a game developer, or a journalist to do something. Everyone can do something. Even those of us who are just players and enthusiasts of games can contribute to the effort to kick imperialism out of games.
If you’re a gamer
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Cancel your Xbox Game Pass subscription. This is the easiest and in many ways the most important action you can take, because Game Pass is one of Xbox’s biggest money makers, and hitting Xbox where it hurts means hitting Microsoft where it hurts. When you cancel your subscription, consider making some noise about it. Take a screenshot, post about why you’re cancelling your Game Pass subscription on social media, encourage all your fellow gamers to do the same.
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Boycott Xbox published games. This both includes games they sell on Xbox storefronts, and games they sell on Steam and Windows Store. We really want to encourage as many people as possible to stop buying Xbox’s biggest money makers, so focus your attention on the big, popular games and franchises - things like Candy Crush, Minecraft, Call of Duty, and other big titles. Again, make some noise about it - encourage your friends and your gaming communities to stop playing these games. Your weekly online co-op group can switch from Call of Duty to something else; you can find another match-3 game for your phone; and there are plenty of other world-building games out there.
- So when it comes to indie games by studios owned by Xbox, like Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight, you can make your own decision about whether or not you feel comfortable about buying these games, if you want to support people making games about black liberation. It’s worth noting that these indie games don’t make anywhere near as much money as the big ones, so it’s worth putting our time, energy and efforts into building mass boycotts for the larger titles than getting caught up over the smaller ones. Nobody expects or demands any kind of “purity” when it comes to boycotting; it’s all about being strategic.
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Boycott Microsoft gaming hardware, like Xbox consoles, headsets, controllers and other accessories. You won’t be buying their games anyway, so why buy their hardware?