Longtime Xbox devotees have recently seen several former exclusive games go to PlayStation 5, while Microsoft has raised prices on Game Pass and Xbox consoles in the US. Now, one of Xbox’s original team members, Laura Fryer, is calling out her former employer and describing the price increases as a “betrayal” of the trust that gamers placed in them.
“With this latest increase to Game Pass, Xbox threw away one of their last advantages,” said Fryer in her latest YouTube video. “They were the best deal in gaming… With these price hikes, it feels like a betrayal, like greed over gaming… I recognize that this Xbox console generation isn’t over yet, it’s almost certainly going to be remembered first and foremost for Microsoft’s greed.”
Fryer went on to recap the two hardware price increases this generation, three separate Game Pass price increases, more expensive games, massive layoffs, and multiple studio layoffs.
“I believe all of these changes and drama will harm Microsoft’s brand,” said Fryer. “It appears that Xbox is moving towards cloud gaming and away from hardware, but it also could be that they’re just incompetent, that they just don’t understand what they’re doing… They need to rebuild trust with gamers and fans. I know people on the Xbox team that are still there that were there in the early days… They can fix this and I’m rooting for them and wishing them the best.”
Fryer previously shared her belief that Xbox is abandoning hardware by outsourcing the ROG Xbox Ally handheld devices to Asus. Xbox VP Jason Ronald reiterated the company’s commitment to its next generation hardware earlier this year.
Following the recent Game Pass announcement, Microsoft revealed that the price hikes won’t immediately go into effect for all players. But the more expensive version of Game Pass is losing a fan-favorite Call of Duty perk. Some analysts believe that an ad-supported Game Pass service will be added in the future.
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