Developers at Arkane Studios in France have called on their parent company, Microsoft, to stop supporting Israel during its ongoing war in Gaza, which a UN Special Committee said was “consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”
The open letter published online (via Game Developer) is addressed to the “heads of Zenimax, Microsoft Gaming and the overall Microsoft group.” It says that the ongoing situation in Gaza and Microsoft’s work with Israel could “affect our reputation and work” and asks Microsoft to take the “appropriate measure” to resolve it. It joins the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement, which has set Microsoft as a priority target of its boycott. BDS specifically mentions Microsoft’s gaming division and Game Pass among its boycott targets.
“We think that Microsoft has no place being accomplice of a genocide, and as Microsoft employees, we don’t want to be part of this sinister project for Gaza,” the letter continues. “Moreover, we think it’s our responsibility, as tech workers, to raise the alarm, and to ensure that our technologies are used to make the voices of the oppressed heard, and not facilitate their demise.
