Xbox hardware ‘is dead’ says former Microsoft exec in scathing YouTube video

One of the original Xbox team members has criticised the current state of Microsoft and how it seems to be abandoning the console market.

When Microsoft announced it would start bringing Xbox exclusives to PlayStation and Nintendo platforms, including older games like Gears Of War, many wondered if this meant the company would exit the hardware business entirely.

Since then, sales of the Xbox Series X/S have only worsened and, in 2023, Microsoft admitted it had lost the console war to PlayStation. However, despite this, Microsoft remains committed to new hardware and is promising multiple Xbox consoles for the next generation.

There’s also the new handheld Microsoft has partnered with Asus on – the ROG Xbox Ally – but former Xbox executive, Laura Fryer believes this handheld’s existence is the precursor to a ‘slow exit’ from the hardware business and proof that Xbox hardware ‘is dead.’

Fryer was one of the first members of Microsoft Gaming Studios and the team that worked on the original Xbox, having joined the company in 2000. She would eventually become an executive producer during the Xbox 360 era, before leaving to join Warner Bros. in 2009 and later Epic Games in 2012.

She appears to have retired from the games industry since then but she currently runs a YouTube channel to discuss gaming and provide her own insight.

In her latest video about the future of the Xbox brand, Fryer doesn’t pull her punches. She criticises many of Microsoft’s business decisions in recent years, such as the closure of Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks and the decision to start charging $80 for certain games in the US.

Regarding Microsoft’s current Xbox Play Anywhere initiative, which is built around the idea of being able to access Xbox games on any platform, Fryer believes this is a sign that the company is putting all its focus on driving more customers to the Xbox Game Pass service and letting Asus handle the hardware side of things.

‘This wasn’t surprising. Hardware is expensive to make. It’s much easier to slap an Xbox sticker on an existing piece of hardware and call it a day,’ says Fryer, referencing how the ROG Xbox Ally is really no different to the current ROG Ally already on the market.

She doesn’t mention the rumour of Microsoft abandoning plans for its own custom handheld device, to focus on its ‘software platform.’ If true, this would back up her argument, although Microsoft’s most recent next gen announcement already seems to counter that rumour, insisting its ‘portfolio of devices’ will include handhelds.

‘If you don’t care about console sales of exclusive games anymore, why bother innovating in hardware?’ Fryer continues, adding that the whole Xbox Play Anywhere push is pure marketing with ‘no substance’ and Microsoft’s history of pivoting means it could very well change its mind in the future.

Fryer also believes there’s no good reason to invest in the ROG Xbox Ally since it has no exclusive games to call its own, it forces customers into using Windows 11 (which she admits she’s biased against), and despite Microsoft’s slogan of being able to play all your games anywhere, the device only runs native PC games.

Fryer is clearly very upset at how Microsoft has changed over the years and how ‘it looks like they’re abandoning pretty much everything that made the Xbox brand great in the first place.’

Fryer continues, ‘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 [Asus] partnership is about a slow exit from the hardware business completely. Personally, I think Xbox hardware is dead.’

Again, Microsoft has confirmed plans for more Xbox consoles, though little has been shared about them aside from promises of ‘deeper visual quality, immersive gameplay, and AI-powered experiences.’

The new consoles will also be backwards compatible with existing Xbox libraries and there could be hints of them supporting third party storefronts like Steam and the Epic Games Store (something it’s already bringing to the Xbox PC app later this year).

However, these all sound like conveniences for established Xbox customers. Sony’s PlayStation 6, while similarly nebulous, will likely be just as powerful and presumably continue to receive ports of Xbox games, so the question remains: why would anyone who’s not already bought into the Xbox ecosystem jump ship?

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