Indie deckbuilder All Will Rise's dev joins No Games For Genocide boycott and plans to hand back funding it received from Microsoft

Indie deckbuilder All Will Rise is, as Andy Chalk wrote last year, "clearly a game with something to say". The deckbuilding RPG is particularly interested in the rich and powerful, and getting revenge on the billionaires destroying the world. It's deeply anti-capitalist and political, but developer Speculative Agency received funding from Microsoft, which puts it in an awkward position.

In December, we called 2025 "Microsoft's year of shame" after it killed off games and studios left and right, snuggled up to Donald Trump, went all-in on AI and supplied tech to the military—not just the US military, but the Israeli Defense Force as well, which human rights organisations and a UN commission of enquiry have accused of committing genocide.

This has spurred both protests and boycotts, including the No Games For Genocide campaign. Two years after it deepened its relationship with the IDF—during which time it fired employees for protesting—Microsoft did eventually block the IDF from "specific cloud storage and AI services and technologies", but the boycotts continue.

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Speculative Agency "became aware of the No Games For Genocide campaign late last year," the studio explains in a statement we got an early look at. This prompted a discussion about "whether it was possible to participate in the boycott".

All Will Rise's subject matter places it in opposition to companies like Microsoft, but Speculative Agency needed funding. "We were at that point self-funded, and we are—like so many other indies—eager and hungry for funding opportunities." This led to it receiving "some funding" from Microsoft as part of a "developer acceleration programme deal", which it signed last year.

Participating in the boycott would mean returning that funding. "So we would have to ask Microsoft to let us break our contract and somehow make up the shortfall of funds at a time where funding is extremely difficult to come by in the industry. Also we would be giving up the opportunity to reach the large audience of players on Xbox, increasing our financial risk and decreasing our potential player pool."

The studio ultimately decided the risk was worth it: "The urgency of No Games for Genocide and its value as a growing movement that has the potential to pressure Microsoft to cease its complicity with Israeli genocide won out."

Speculative Agency goes on to acknowledge that "there are many people working inside complicit organisations that disagree with leadership decisions," and thanks the "individuals at Microsoft that we have corresponded with for their understanding".

The statement concludes with a call to action: "We encourage others in the industry to join us and take a stand in pledging No Games For Genocide. Our 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. We refuse the idea that commercial success is worth the price of our consciences."

It's not clear what the impact will be on All Will Rise—which doesn't have a release date yet, but does have a demo—aside from it not launching on Xbox as was originally planned. As noted in the statement, it will need to make up for the funding shortfall somewhere. The Kickstarter could help in this regard, however. With 10 more days to go, it's already smashed its pledge goal. Speculative Agency was looking for £8,628 but the pledge total is currently sitting at £27,585.

I have reached out to Microsoft for comment and will update this story if I receive a response.