Rare Limited

Rare Limited is a British video game developer and a studio of Xbox Game Studios. Microsoft acquired Rare in September 2002, making it a first-party developer for Xbox platforms.

Microsoft's Corporate Complicity

As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation, Rare is implicated in its parent company's extensive military contracts and surveillance operations. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has designated Microsoft as a "priority BDS target" due to the company's central role in supporting Israeli military operations and facilitating apartheid and genocide.

Microsoft provides critical cloud computing and AI technologies to the Israeli military through its Azure platform. Leaked documents reveal that the Israeli military became one of Microsoft's top AI customers, with Azure cloud storage increasing 60% above pre-conflict levels and AI tools usage seeing a 20-fold increase during military operations in Gaza.

BDS Campaign Targeting Rare's Games

The Palestinian BDS National Committee has specifically called for boycotting Microsoft's gaming division, which includes Rare's portfolio of games. The BDS movement describes Microsoft as:

perhaps the most complicit tech company in Israel's illegal apartheid regime and ongoing genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.

Rare's games, including Sea of Thieves and their classic franchises, represent a revenue stream for Microsoft Gaming. BDS organizers state that:

Microsoft Gaming, which includes Xbox consoles, Xbox Game Pass, Candy Crush, Call of Duty, Minecraft, and gaming accessories, make up a considerable portion of Microsoft's profit. By boycotting the Xbox brand, we're pressuring Microsoft to end its complicity in Israel's genocide, occupation and apartheid against Palestinians.

The campaign encourages gamers to:

Sources: