“This act aims to demonstrate solidarity with Palestine” – Umurangi Generation studio blocks sale of new Penguin Colony game in Israel

Origame Digital, the studio behind 2020’s critically acclaimed Umurangi Generation, has just released a new game but has banned its sale in Israel.

Penguin Colony is a Lovecraftian horror game experienced through the eyes of a penguin, based on author HP Lovecraft’s story At the Mountains of Madness. Fellow Traveler, the game’s publisher, confirmed that Penguin Colony is not for sale in Israel in a Steam community thread. The thread was created by a Steam user living in Israel wondering if the game had been removed from Steam.

“While in general we seek to bring our games to as many potential players as possible, we strongly believe that developers have the right to control where their games are sold,” Fellow Traveler responded. “In this case, the developer asked us to block the sale to Israel. In the absence of more organized sanctions, this act aims to demonstrate solidarity with Palestine. We fully support their decision.”

This message is further reinforced by Penguin Colony itself, which features a post-credits scene that clearly shows the studio’s stance on Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. As shared online, the message reads: “The video game industry’s cowardice during Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestine will be recorded by the art it creates.”

Origame Digital has been vocal about its politics, both in and outside of its games, so this latest move comes as no surprise. Penguin Colony also features a strong statement of land acknowledgment at its beginning.

“This game was made on the lands of Wurundjeri Woiwurrung,” it reads. The Kulin nation never ceded its sovereignty to the British Commonwealth. We honor elders past and emerging as Indigenous creators working on lands that do not belong to us. The land will always remain Indigenous land, no matter what. »

In Penguin Colony, you play as a penguin whose home has been invaded by rival human factions searching for an ancient being. You can jump between the different penguins in the colony while witnessing and trying to escape the chaos. The game is currently available on PC, with console editions planned for 2027.

Recently, House House, the studio behind one of this year’s most famous games, Big Walk, said that the game did not have an Xbox version because parent company Microsoft was one of the targets of the BDS boycott. Microsoft has ties to the State of Israel, including supplying its military with cloud and AI systems used in the ongoing genocide.