All Will Rise is an indie deckbuilding RPG deeply interested in the rich and powerful, and in getting revenge on billionaires destroying the world. The game's explicitly anti-capitalist worldview now extends beyond its fictional narrative to its publisher's real-world choices.
Speculative Agency, the studio behind All Will Rise, became aware of the No Games For Genocide campaign late last year and prompted discussions about whether it was possible to participate in the boycott. The dilemma was acute. The studio was self-funded and eager for funding opportunities, leading to it receiving some funding from Microsoft as part of a developer acceleration programme deal signed last year. Participating in the boycott would require returning that money.
The tension here is real. After years of acquisitions, Microsoft has become a gaming industry monolith, and avoiding it entirely may prove difficult for many. For most developers, especially independent studios with limited resources, the calculus favours pragmatism. A developer acceleration programme offers not just capital but credibility, distribution pathways, and stability at a time when game industry funding has become increasingly scarce.
Speculative Agency chose otherwise. The studio would need to ask Microsoft to break its contract and somehow make up the funding shortfall at a time when funding is extremely difficult to come by in the industry. Yet the studio proceeded with this costly decision.
The No Games For Genocide campaign emerged from boycott and protest efforts, spurred by accusations that Microsoft supplied technology to the Israeli Defence Force. Extensive reporting has revealed that Microsoft allows Israel's military surveillance agency, Unit 8200, to use its Azure cloud platform to monitor Palestinians and enable military action such as airstrikes. Microsoft recently cut off cloud services to an Israel Defence Forces intelligence unit that used them for mass surveillance of Palestinians, but continues supplying them to the rest of the military.
The boycott itself is part of a broader Palestinian-led movement. The campaign calls on journalists, developers, streamers, and consumers to participate in the BDS (boycott, divest, sanction) movement against Microsoft. Organisers worked with industry members including Game Workers Union founder Austin Kelmore to organise No Games For Genocide and determine where to focus its attention.
The financial impact on Speculative Agency is significant but not ruinous. The studio launched a Kickstarter campaign; with 10 more days remaining, it has already smashed its pledge goal, with the campaign sitting at £27,585 against a target of £8,628. The success suggests some community appetite for supporting developers who take such stands. Still, it remains unclear how this will affect the game's development timeline or its ambitions.
All Will Rise does not have a release date yet but does have a demo, and will not launch on Xbox as originally planned. This is a tangible consequence of conscience; whatever strategic value an Xbox launch might have offered is now forgone.
Speculative Agency's position carries broader weight because of what the studio chose to risk. A successful Kickstarter campaign and community support can help fill a funding gap, but they cannot guarantee long-term stability. The studio's argument rests on a straightforward moral claim: "We refuse the idea that commercial success is worth the price of our consciences".
This raises difficult questions about institutional responsibility in creative industries. Should independent developers be expected to sacrifice financial security for ethical positions on matters of foreign policy? Or should we recognise that such decisions, when freely made, represent a form of legitimate expression that markets ought to permit? The answers are not obvious.
What is clear is that Speculative Agency has placed principle above expediency. Others in the industry will now face the same choice. The studio called on others to "take a stand in pledging No Games For Genocide", stating that "small actions and sacrifices can collectively have an unexpectedly powerful impact, and we are hopeful if enough developers and studios are moved to participate this could be a genuine tipping point".