Xbox Co-Founder Slams Game Pass Price Hike as “Betrayal”
▼ Summary
– Former Xbox team member Laura Fryer criticizes Microsoft’s price increases as a betrayal of gamer trust and a shift toward greed over gaming.
– Fryer cites multiple Xbox price hikes including two hardware increases, three Game Pass increases, and more expensive games as damaging moves.
– She believes these changes will harm Microsoft’s brand and suggests Xbox may be moving toward cloud gaming while appearing incompetent in hardware strategy.
– Despite criticism, Fryer expresses hope that Xbox can rebuild trust with fans and acknowledges dedicated team members still working there.
– Microsoft maintains commitment to next-gen hardware while implementing gradual Game Pass changes and potentially adding an ad-supported service in the future.
For dedicated Xbox enthusiasts, recent developments have sparked significant concern and debate. The platform has witnessed a strategic shift, marked by the release of several former exclusives on PlayStation 5 and a series of price increases for both its Game Pass subscription and hardware in the United States. Adding a powerful voice to the conversation, Laura Fryer, a co-founder of the original Xbox team, has publicly criticized these moves, labeling the Game Pass price hike a “betrayal” of the community’s trust.
In a recent YouTube video, Fryer expressed her disappointment, stating, “With this latest increase to Game Pass, Xbox threw away one of their last advantages.” She elaborated, emphasizing that the service was once considered the best value in the industry. “With these price hikes, it feels like a betrayal, like greed over gaming,” she continued. While acknowledging that the current console generation is not yet finished, Fryer predicted its legacy will be dominated by perceptions of Microsoft’s corporate avarice.
Her critique extended beyond the subscription service. Fryer recapped a troubling pattern for consumers, pointing to two separate hardware price increases during this generation, three distinct Game Pass price hikes, a general rise in game costs, and widespread layoffs affecting multiple studios. She voiced a strong belief that this collection of negative changes will ultimately damage the Microsoft brand.
Fryer also speculated on the company’s strategic direction, suggesting Xbox might be pivoting toward cloud gaming and away from dedicated hardware. However, she also raised the possibility that the leadership might simply be struggling with its vision. “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,” she remarked. Despite her sharp criticism, she expressed hope for a turnaround, noting that she knows veteran team members still within the company and is rooting for them to fix the situation and rebuild fan trust.
Her comments on hardware strategy were partly informed by Microsoft’s partnership with Asus on the ROG Ally handheld, which she interpreted as a sign of the company stepping back from developing its own devices. This perspective contrasts with earlier statements from Xbox Vice President Jason Ronald, who reaffirmed the company’s commitment to its next-generation hardware earlier this year.
In the wake of the Game Pass announcement, Microsoft clarified that the new pricing would not take effect immediately for all subscribers. However, the announcement also confirmed that the premium tier of Game Pass will lose a popular perk related to the Call of Duty franchise. Looking ahead, some industry analysts are predicting that Microsoft may introduce a new, lower-cost, ad-supported version of the Game Pass service in the future.
(Source: GameSpot)
