Arkane Studios members of the French union STJV have demanded that Microsoft stop its support for Israel. 

In a post on its website, the organisation said that its members were joining the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement, as well as the No Azure for Apartheid movements, both of which aim to provide support for Palestine. 

The BDS movement started in 2005 and aimed to discourage companies from supporting Israel; this has included asking that musicians not perform in the region. The movement asked in April for a boycott of Xbox after it was revealed that Microsoft had been providing services to the Israeli military. 

Meanwhile, No Azure for Apartheid is another instance of companies demanding that Microsoft cut support for Israel over its treatment of Palestinians. STJV reports that over 2,000 staff at Microsoft's games business have signed the No Azure for Apartheid petition. 

"We think that Microsoft has no place being accomplice of a genocide, and as Microsoft employees, we don’t want to be part of this sinister project for Gaza," the group wrote.

"Moreover, we think it’s our responsibility, as tech workers, to raise the alarm, and to ensure that our technologies are used to make the voices of the oppressed heard, and not facilitate their demise.

"Finally, in a more direct manner, we think this could very well affect our life directly, by reducing the audience for our games, thus directly compromising the viability of Xbox Games, and, in the long run, our very own jobs."