One of the original founding members of Xbox, Laura Fryer, believes the firm’s hardware ambitions are “dead.”
In a new video in which Fryer reflects upon her time shipping the OG Xbox and Xbox 360, she calls the company’s current roadmap “chaos,” asks “is the flashy new ROG Ally the real deal,” and ponders what the future may hold for Xbox going forward.
“There is literally no reason to buy this handheld,” Fryer opined of the ROG Xbox Ally. “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 partnership is about a slow exit from the hardware business completely. Personally, I think Xbox hardware is dead.”
Xbox is focused on driving fans to Game Pass, Fryer continued, saying that while there’s “value” in that (and while it’s possibly one of the reasons why Outer Worlds 2 was slapped with a $80 price tag), she still questioned what the company’s long-term strategy is, especially with Xbox’s 25th anniversary looming.
“And here’s the thing — maybe it will work,” she added. “Xbox has a deep portfolio. [Oblivion Remastered] 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?
“Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the Xbox, and I’m sure that they will have some big announcements and plans for honoring the milestone. Maybe next year is the year. Maybe next year is the year that the fog will clear, and all of us will see the beauty in these latest announcements. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…”
Last week, we reported that Microsoft is allegedly planning significant layoffs in its gaming business that could come as early as this week. Managers at Microsoft have reportedly already been briefed about the Xbox layoffs as well as wider cuts at the company, which are expected to hit sales teams in particular.
For the gaming business, The Verge reported Microsoft plans to make the cuts ahead of the release of its next generation of consoles. It comes after Microsoft announced a partnership with AMD to power the next generation of Xbox, including its first-party future Xbox consoles. Microsoft has yet to say when it plans to launch the new devices.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
