Xbox “Has No Desire” To Make Hardware Anymore, Founding Team Member Says

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Next year marks the 25th anniversary of Xbox, but one of the console’s original team members, Laura Fryer, is openly questioning one element of Microsoft’s gaming division. Fryer–who no longer works for Xbox–recently shared her response to Microsoft’s recent handheld and console partnerships and concluded that the company “has no desire” to create hardware anymore.

On her YouTube channel (via IGN), Fryer noted that the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally handheld devices won’t have any exclusive games to drive sales and added that Microsoft’s partnerships with Asus on the handheld and AMD on the next generation of Xbox reflects a dim future for its consoles.

“Obviously, as one of the founding members of the Xbox team, I’m not pleased with where things are today,” said Fryer. “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.”

Fryer acknowledged that remasters of classic games like The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered have been massively successful, but she questioned Xbox’s ability to make new hits. She also notes that Microsoft has a valuable resource in Game Pass, but believes that it’s not enough to drive hardware sales on its own.

Former Xbox Live and Game Pass vice president Mike Ybarra had a slightly different assessment on X. While Ybarra also believes that Microsoft is pulling back from hardware, he thinks it can become the biggest gaming publisher if it focuses on that goal alone.

“They have to figure out what needs to change, and fast,” wrote Ybarra. “I’m a big fan and will always bleed green… 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… Straddling the fence is not a winning plan.”

A recent report suggested that a new round of layoffs may hit Microsoft’s gaming division as soon as this week. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has said multiple times that the company needs to cut Xbox staff to be a sustainable business. At the same time, Microsoft’s latest quarterly report noted that net revenue the company achieved net revenue of $70.1 billion (up 13%) and a net profit of $25.8 billion (up 18%). The Xbox division also posted year-over-year revenue growth.

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