'Greed over gaming': Xbox co-founder Laura Fryer hits out at Game Pass price hike
Xbox co-founder Laura Fryer has accused Microsoft of "betrayal" after the firm raised the price of the console's Game Pass.
Former Microsoft executive Laura Fryer has criticised Xbox’s leadership for being "out of touch" following the company’s recent Game Pass and hardware price increases.
In a video posted online, Fryer accused senior management of being stuck in a "bubble" and disconnected from the values that once made Xbox a fan-favourite brand.
Referring to the official announcement video for the Game Pass pricing changes, she said: "In fairness, they got that right. They gave their fans the freedom to choose, and they have — they’ve left.
"Not one fan asked for their Game Pass prices to be raised by 50 per cent, or for the price of the Xbox to go up by 30 per cent. This tone-deaf video is further confirmation that the bubble at Xbox is real, with leadership that doesn’t understand what made them great."
Fryer claimed this cultural drift began in 2008, when what she called a "yes man culture" began taking root inside Microsoft.
She contrasted today’s leadership with the Xbox of the early 2000s — a brand that, she argued, built its identity around bold innovation, late-night multiplayer parties, and the community-driven spirit of Halo 2 and Xbox Live.
Fryer said: "This is an Xbox that is destroying all of the brand value built over the years. It was meant to be an inclusive message where everyone is welcome, but it ended up hollowing out the brand, because if everything is an Xbox, then nothing really is."
She also criticised the company’s lack of first-party blockbusters and its abandonment of core identity in pursuit of trends.
The former Microsoft worker said: "Xbox didn't reinvent [itself] by replacing the old engine with a better one — they just abandoned what they had and started chasing what they didn’t understand."
Fryer concluded by warning that the Game Pass increase undermines Xbox’s last major strength.
She said: "With this last increase to Game Pass, Xbox threw away one of their last advantages: they were the best deal in gaming. These price hikes feel like a betrayal. Greed over gaming."
