Laura Fryer was one of the first employees at Microsoft Game Studios, producing the early “Gears of War” games and serving as director of the Xbox Advanced Technology Group.
She left the company about halfway through the Xbox 360 cycle and went on to become general manager of WB Games Seattle and Epic Games Seattle. Needless to say, she has a lot of experience and knowledge in these matters.
She also has her own YouTube channel in which she crafts videos commenting on the state of the gaming industry, and her latest one has drawn some attention – one in which she discusses the future of Xbox and believes that the Xbox hardware business is essentially ‘dead’.
Microsoft’s gaming division has been making headlines in recent weeks announcing multiple partnerships with external hardware companies – namely AMD, Meta and most visibly with the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally handheld.
At the same time it’s going all in on its ‘Xbox Anywhere’ marketing which Fryer indicates could represent the company’s ‘slow exit’ from the gaming hardware business. She dismisses the slogan as “style, with no substance” marketing while the ROG Xbox Ally – essentially a rebranded regular ROG Ally with a custom launcher – isn’t likely to be big with consumers:
“Obviously, as one of the founding members of the Xbox team, I’m not pleased with where things are today. I don’t love watching all of the value that I helped create slowly get eroded away.
I’m sad because from my perspective, it looks like Xbox has no desire or literally can’t ship hardware anymore. So this [ROG Ally] partnership is about a slow exit from the hardware business completely.
Personally, I think Xbox hardware is dead. The plan appears to be to just drive everybody to Game Pass. And let’s be clear, it has a lot of value. I’m thinking that might be why they decided to charge $80 for Outer Worlds 2… And here’s the thing, maybe it will work.
Xbox has a deep portfolio. The remake of Oblivion was obviously a huge success, and they can continue to outsource that work to external companies and make a lot of money releasing their older games. Older games from an era when Xbox knew how to build them.
But what is the long-term plan? Where are the new hits? What will make people care about the Xbox 25 years from now?”
The mixed messaging has also drawn commentary from former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra who also served various roles at Microsoft for 20 years, including corporate VP on Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass. He says on X that the company needs to rediscover its identity and stick to it:
“Tough to see Xbox confused about who it is and what it should be. Some great people there still. They have to figure out what needs to change, and fast. I’m a big fan and will always bleed green. Cheering the team on from the sidelines. Pick your lane and stick to it.
It’s simple to me. Xbox should strive to be the world’s largest publisher of entertainment content. Get rid of everything else and get focused. Do not be afraid to say what you are. Embrace the lane.”
Asked about the company’s identity as a console maker, he said: “From what I see, they are no longer that.”
Microsoft has increasingly adopted a multiplatform approach for its first-party games with titles now releasing for PlayStation 5 either day-and-date or close to their Xbox versions, and also releasing day-and-date on PC.
With the ROG Xbox Ally allowing for the inclusion of other digital storefronts, such as Steam, there’s the obvious question as to whether Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox console will be more PC-like and also incorporate this element.
