Larry Hryb, known to some of the older Xbox fans as Major Nelson, has announced that he has been laid off from Unity, where he was working as director of community and advocacy. In a post on LinkedIn, Hryb wrote about first having joined the company behind the popular game engine back in 2024 and rebuilding its community and advocacy team.
“I’ve always been transparent with this community, so I wanted to share that – like a lot of people in tech and gaming right now – I was laid off from Unity,” wrote Hryb, who went on to discuss some of his accomplishments like making Unity more visible at industry and consumer events like PAX.
“After nearly three decades of making an impact at Microsoft, I joined Unity in 2024. During my time there, I rebuilt their Community and Advocacy Team with a deliberate strategy that created a clearer, more connected experience for creators, developers, and gamers. We brought energy back to channels that had gone quiet, restored trust, and showed up consistently where it mattered. I elevated Unity’s visibility at PAX and key industry events, strengthened relationships, and ensured Unity had a clear voice in the broader conversation.”
Hryb had left his stint at Microsoft after having spent 22 years at the company, essentially becoming one of the major spokespersons for Xbox. Before his departure, he worked at the company as its director of programming. Throughout his time there, he had spoken about keeping a clear and transparent line of communications open with fans of the product. Similarly, he now also wrote about how important communication has been for Unity throughout his time at the company.
“Good communication was critical to that work,” he wrote about raising the visibility of Unity. “We told better stories, rebuilt confidence in the brand, and experimented with emerging platforms to meet audiences where they already were. We aligned community engagement directly with product strategy, so creators and players experienced a more cohesive Unity. Making that connection tangible again was meaningful, and I’m proud of what the team accomplished.”
As for what lies in the future for him, Hryb noted that he is looking for new opportunities that could leverage his experience in having worked on building strong communities and platform strategies.
“Change makes you stronger. I’m exploring opportunities where my experience in community leadership, platform strategy, and communications can drive growth at the intersection of hardware, software, and services. I’m drawn to ecosystems where those pieces work together to create integrated experiences for creators and players,” he wrote.
Hryb first came to prominence during his stint as senior project manager at Xbox thanks to the launch of the Major Nelson Radio podcast, which would eventually get renamed to the Official Xbox Podcast. Thanks to his major role in the company, Hryb would also end up becoming the main source of Xbox-related news for many gamers, be it the release of new games and DLCs, to details about upcoming hardware. In his final years at Microsoft, Hryb would be involved in developing communications plans for the global launches of various games, hardware and other services.
