Laura Fryer, a founding member of Team Xbox and former director of the Xbox Advanced Technology Group, expressed strong concerns about the state of the Xbox brand in 2025. In a recent 12-minute YouTube video, she criticized the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally handheld, questioning its purpose and value.
Fryer highlighted that the ROG Xbox Ally lacks exclusive games and does not offer significant advantages over existing Xbox consoles, PCs, or other handheld devices like the Steam Deck and the standard ROG Ally. She argued that the “Xbox Anywhere” marketing message amounts to style without substance, making the handheld a difficult product to justify.
“The Xbox Anywhere message sounds great on the surface, but in reality it’s just marketing. It’s style with no substance. Unfortunately, I don’t think marketing is going to be enough. There is literally no reason to buy this handheld,” she said.
She also voiced disappointment with Xbox’s current hardware strategy, suggesting that Xbox’s first-party hardware efforts may be effectively over:
“As one of the founding members of the Xbox team, I’m not pleased with how things are today. I don’t love watching all the value that I helped create, slowly get eroded away. I’m sad, because from my perspective it looks like Xbox has no desire or literally can’t ship hardware anymore, so this partnership is about a slow exit from the hardware business completely. Personally, I think Xbox hardware is dead.”
Despite her criticism, Fryer praised Xbox Game Pass for its value and acknowledged the potential in Xbox’s extensive game portfolio, citing remasters like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion as examples.
Looking ahead to Xbox’s 25th anniversary in 2026, Fryer expressed cautious optimism that upcoming announcements might improve the brand’s direction:
“Maybe next year is the year that the fog will clear and all of us will see the beauty in these latest announcements. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
While some are more optimistic about the ROG Xbox Ally as a competitive Windows handheld offering strong performance and battery life, Fryer’s comments highlight concerns about its lack of exclusive content and unclear positioning.
Xbox recently unveiled a next-generation console strategy, though it remains uncertain how much of this will rely on first-party hardware versus partnerships like the ROG Xbox Ally.
What are your thoughts on Fryer’s perspective and the future of Xbox hardware? Share your opinions in the comments.