Criticism of the Xbox Game Pass price increase has gone beyond just players — now, one of the platform's founders, Laura Fryer, has spoken out about Microsoft's decision.
She posted an emotional commentary on her YouTube channel. Fryer emphasized that the current Xbox leadership lives in a bubble, detached from the reality of gamers, and that the communication surrounding the price increase was "completely deaf to the community's opinion."
Fryer noted:
"This price increase is simply a betrayal. Like greed instead of a passion for games."
Xbox, according to her, has lost its essence — unique consoles, exclusive games, and genuine partnerships with developers.
Previously, the brand was created not for the sake of sales, but to build a closed ecosystem with direct contact with players and game creators. Now, however, the strategy where everything is labeled as "Xbox" has deprived the brand of its identity.
"It was supposed to be a unifying slogan: \"Everyone is welcome.\" But it turned out that if everything is Xbox, then nothing is really Xbox."
Although Fryer understands the business logic of transitioning to services and the "cloud," she believes that the leadership understands neither the players nor the developers:
"Maybe they are just incompetent and trying different approaches."
Her words are one of the first such sharp comments from someone who created the Xbox brand.
