One of the co-founders of Microsoft Game Studios – Laura Fryer – hasn’t pulled her punches when it has come to criticising some of the company’s decisions. In a new video, Fryer has taken to calling out Microsoft’s recent decision to raise the praise of Game Pass Ultimate, along with introducing new tiers to the subscription service. In the video, which you can check out below, Fryer has said that the company threw away one of its advantages in favour of “greed over gaming”.
Fryer spoke about the leadership of Microsoft making these decisions while not quite being in touch with the gaming market at large. This, she noted, as being one of the biggest challenges that Xbox is faced with today. “I’m not sure that their leadership understands what makes Xbox great,” she said. “I’m not sure that they’re listening to their fans. They keep doubling down on decisions that make it clear that they’ve been in a bubble, and all this feedback doesn’t seem to reach them any more.”
Referring to the recent video released by Microsoft over the changes being made to the pricing structure and tiers of Game Pass which noted that players would have more choice than ever before, Fryer also said, “They got it right. They did give their fans the freedom to choose, and they have. They’ve left.”
She also points to the price hikes that have affected Xbox Series X/S consoles in the US, which have also been noted by others in the industry as being done with a profit motive rather than in response to the trade tariffs imposed by the US. These decisions, according to Fryer, came from a “yes man culture” that has seemingly been cultivated in Microsoft’s upper management tiers.
“Xbox didn’t reinvent [itself] by replacing the old engine with a better one,” she continued further in the video. “They just abandoned what they had and started chasing what they didn’t understand…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.”
The price for Game Pass Ultimate going up to $30 per month has raised quite a few eyebrows throughout the industry. Earlier this week, former head of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Lina Khan, had criticised Microsoft for the price hike, noting that events like industry consolidation with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard led to Microsoft becoming “too-big-to-care” about raising prices of its services.
“Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been followed by significant price hikes and layoffs, harming both gamers and developers,” wrote Khan. “As we’ve seen across sectors, increasing market consolidation and increasing prices often go hand-in-hand. As dominant firms become too-big-to-care, they can make things worse for their customers without having to worry about the consequences.”
For more details about the new pricing for Game Pass Ultimate, as well as about the new Game Pass Essential and Game Pass Premium tiers, check out our coverage. Interestingly, some regions in the world have seemingly had the price hikes delayed.
