Laura Fryer describes herself as one of the founding members of the original Xbox team. She's long since left, but she has a very gloomy message for Xbox fans: "Personally, I think Xbox hardware is dead."
Fryer is commenting on all the recent news about the future of Xbox, which includes everything from the new Asus ROG Xbox Ally handheld, to Xbox Anywhere and the newly announced collaboration with AMD on chips.
"Xbox has finally landed on a strategy, a plan form the future of Xbox," Fryer says in a new video on her personal YouTube channel (via IGN). "It's the Xbox Anywhere plan, they're betting the entire business on Gamepass and leaving the hardware innovation to their partners at Asus.
"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 day."
She's also scathing about the very idea of Gamepass and playing Xbox games on almost any device. "It's marketing, it's style not substance," she says.
More broadly, Fryer thinks the problem is that Microsoft is abandoning everything that made Xbox great. She explains that Xbox was created because Microsoft wanted to compete with Sony, who owned living room way back before the first Xbox appeared 24 years ago.
The Xbox had appeal because games just worked, it was all much easier than PC gaming where the hardware was so varied, users had to worry about specs, compatibility and drivers.
Microsoft also made it easier for game developers with a simple, unified hardware platform and better tools than Sony. But now Xbox seems to be moving to a model where PCs are rebadged as Xboxes and there's no longer a clear target for developers or simplicity for gamers.
Fryer also points out that the new plan will undermine the ability of any hot new title to drive gamers to Xbox, including the new Asus handheld. "Is there going to be a game so compelling that it drives me to adopt this new handheld?" she asks. "Well, here's the problem. Xbox doesn't do exclusives any more. Xbox Anywhere means I can play that game on any platform. I can play it Xbox or PC, I may even be able to play it on the PS5 or the Switch. So why would I buy the ROG Ally?"
"There's literally no reason to buy this handheld," she concludes.
All told, Fryer thinks the newly announced collabs with Asus and AMD are essentially an exit strategy for Microsoft. "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."
Despite all that, Fryer retains a sliver of hope. She points out that next year is the 25th anniversary of Xbox. "Maybe next year is the year the fog will clear and all of us will see the beauty in these latest announcements." You get the feeling, however, she doesn't really think that's going to happen. And nor do we.
