Celeste and TowerFall Pulled From the Xbox Store: Why Maddy Thorson Delisted Both Indie Classics
Two of the most acclaimed independent games of the past decade have officially been removed from sale on Microsoft's digital storefront. Following several days of questions from players who noticed that Celeste and TowerFall Ascension could no longer be purchased on the Xbox Store, creator Maddy Thorson confirmed on Thursday, October 29, 2026, that both titles were intentionally delisted from the platform.
Official Confirmation From Maddy Makes Games on Bluesky
Posting via the official Maddy Makes Games account on Bluesky, Thorson addressed player inquiries directly: "For those who're asking, yes we delisted Celeste and TowerFall on XBox. We did this to support the BDS boycott."
Released in January 2018 by Maddy Makes Games (whose team later founded Extremely OK Games), Celeste won both Best Independent Game and Games for Impact at The Game Awards 2018, where it was also nominated for overall Game of the Year. Meanwhile, the studio's multiplayer archery arena brawler TowerFall originally debuted on the Ouya in 2013 before expanding to PC and consoles as TowerFall Ascension in 2014, eventually landing on Xbox One in early 2017.
What This Means for Current Xbox Owners and Other Platforms
From a practical standpoint, the delisting disables all new digital purchases of Celeste and TowerFall Ascension across the Microsoft Store on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and the Xbox PC app. The removal arrives during a busy week for Microsoft's storefront, which recently launched Microsoft's 25th Anniversary Xbox Store promotion for Windows 11 users.
However, players who already bought either title on Xbox before the removal will not lose access to their copies. Under standard Microsoft Store licensing rules, existing owners can still redownload and play both Celeste and TowerFall Ascension at any time from their owned games library. In addition, both games remain fully available for purchase on all other digital storefronts, including Steam, Itch.io, the Epic Games Store, the PlayStation Store, and the Nintendo eShop alongside upcoming indie releases across consoles and PC.
Growing Boycott Actions Across the Indie Scene
Thorson's decision aligns with the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement and the industry collective No Games for Genocide, which designated Xbox and Microsoft's gaming services as priority boycott targets over parent company Microsoft's cloud computing and AI contracts with the Israeli government and military.
Maddy Makes Games is the second prominent independent studio this month to pull or withhold titles from the Xbox ecosystem on these grounds. Earlier in October, Australian developer House House (creator of Untitled Goose Game) and publisher Panic confirmed that their upcoming cooperative adventure game Big Walk would skip Xbox consoles entirely, focusing instead on PC, Mac, and PlayStation.
My Take: Digital Storefront Delistings Highlight the Fragility of Modern Console Libraries
Looking at the broader console landscape, I think the sudden removal of two foundational indie classics like Celeste and TowerFall Ascension underscores just how quickly closed digital storefronts can shift for console players. While PC gamers can turn to multiple competing stores such as Steam or Itch.io on the same hardware, owners of disc-free consoles have no straightforward alternative once a digital listing is pulled from the Microsoft Store. In my view, seeing influential studios like Maddy Makes Games and House House step away from Xbox is a significant blow to the platform's indie catalog at a time when curation and third-party support matter more than ever.
SEO consultant for over 20 years and digital entrepreneur, Charles 'Grimtag' Ronchain is the founder of Pro-Gamer.gg, Retrocharting.com, and Gamescharting.com. A competitive gamer, streamer, and retro game collector, he has worked in the video game industry for over 15 years, notably as a consultant for leading game price comparison platforms. Passionate about real-time performance data and gaming technology, he analyzes competitive esports, gaming hardware benchmarks, and creator workflows on Pro-Gamer.gg with an authentic player perspective.
