Developer Urges Fans to Hold Off on Purchasing His Indie Game on Xbox

The creator of the indie slot machine game Luck Be a Landlord is urging fans to avoid purchasing it on Xbox, advocating instead for a boycott of Microsoft due to the company’s ongoing support for Israel amid its violent actions against Palestine and its people.

On December 18, Dan DiIorio, the mind behind Luck Be a Landlord, shared a message about the investigative outlet People Make Games, which is also boycotting Xbox over its involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict. DiIorio emphasized that he does not want anyone to buy the game on Xbox.

“Please do not purchase Luck Be a Landlord on Xbox,” DiIorio stated. “I will be making a $10,000 donation to The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund to (hopefully) help offset the revenue the game has generated for Microsoft.”

Released in 2023, Luck Be a Landlord is a roguelike slot machine game that inspired the creation of Balatro. Players aim to pay their rent by utilizing a customizable slot machine. The game initially launched on PC before making its way to consoles earlier this year.

“I would love for everyone to give what they can to The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, whether they purchased the game on Xbox or not,” DiIorio mentioned in an email. “I also encourage those with Game Pass subscriptions to cancel them.”

DiIorio is not the first indie developer to publicly distance themselves from Xbox and support the growing boycott against the company. In April, the developers of Tenderfoot Tactics removed their game from the Xbox store in solidarity with the BDS campaign against Israel.

“We hope that Microsoft will listen to the voices of their workers and customers and stop all business with the criminal Israeli military, which we have watched conduct an open genocide in Gaza over the last 18 months,” one developer expressed on social media. The boycott against Israel continues to pose challenges for Xbox and is expected to persist into 2026.