Xbox Is Dead, Says Former Microsoft Official

Laura Fryer, one of the first names to shape Microsoft’s Xbox brand, has harshly criticized the company’s current strategies. Fryer, who worked at Microsoft from the late 1990s to the late 2000s, stated that she no longer sees a future for Xbox on the hardware side. Her comments on the Xbox Anywhere strategy and the ROG Ally partnership in particular have drawn attention.

Laura Fryer: “Xbox Has Come to the End of the Road in Hardware”

Fryer described Xbox’s recent trends in a video published on YouTube with the words “style but no substance.” She argued that the Xbox Anywhere campaign was merely rhetorical and had no practical equivalent. She also drew attention to the fact that the brand was constantly changing direction and advancing on an unstable path.

Criticizing the portable Xbox experience developed through the ROG Ally collaboration, Fryer stated that this device had no originality. Stating that alternatives such as Steam Deck were already on the market, Fryer said that Xbox had also lost the strong special game advantage it used to have. He emphasized that this situation has made the brand ordinary.

Stating that “Xbox no longer wants to produce hardware or has lost the ability to produce it,” Fryer claimed that this collaboration was a slow withdrawal process from the hardware market. In his own words, “Xbox hardware is dead.” Fryer’s statements brought concerns about the future of the brand back to the agenda.

Microsoft had previously denied claims that it would end Xbox hardware production. It is known that successors to the Xbox Series X/S models are currently being worked on. However, criticisms from influential figures in the sector such as Fryer continue to keep public doubts alive.

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