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.
“In a more direct manner, we think this could very well affect our life directly, by reducing the audience for our games, thus directly compromising the viability of Xbox Games, and, in the long run, our very own jobs.”
The letter cites reporting from the Associated Press showing Microsoft has collaborated with the Israeli military through its cloud and Azure services, as well as its AI systems that have been used to define bombing targets. The Guardian also found that Israel’s military surveillance agency has used Azure to extensively monitor Palestinians. Microsoft denied any knowledge of this use, and said it did not “build or consult” with Israel surveillance, but has reportedly opened an internal investigation regardling the claims.
Arkane said it is joining an existing petition from Microsoft employees called No Azure for Apartheid, which has laid out specific demands including: termination of all ongoing or future contracts with “Israeli Occupation Forces,” transparent disclosure of ties to the Israeli military including an independent and public audit of its contracts and services, an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and free speech and safety for pro-Palestinian employees. Microsoft employees and shareholders began pressuring Microsoft for increased transparency in spring. In May, an employee interrupted Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during a keynote with a “Free Palestine” protest.
For its part, in a blog post in May Microsoft claimed that it conducted both internal and external reviews and “found no evidence to date that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza.” At the same time, though, it acknowledged that it does not have visibility into how customers use its software.
Since the start of the BDS boycott, the situation in Gaza has worsened. A United Nations report published in late July says that food security experts warn of a “worst-case scenario of famine” unfolding in the region, as “widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease” are driving an increase in hunger-related deaths. Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed, “There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza.”
Arkane is the Microsoft studio behind games like Dishonored, Prey, and Deathloop. Its current project is an adaptation of Marvel’s vampire hunter Blade, though we haven’t seen much of the game yet. The studio said in 2023 that it was going to “stay silent for a while.”
