Xbox as we know it is over, and gamers are heartbroken

Several developers and former Microsoft staff members think the writing is well and truly on the wall for the Xbox brand, following the fallout from their latest wave of firings.

A week ago, prior to Microsoft firing 9,000 members of the Xbox team, I wrote this article: Microsoft veteran claims ‘hardware is dead’.

Ex-Microsoft veteran, Laura Fryer, known for her work on Xbox titles such as Gears of War 2 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection, had some choice words for the direction that Xbox is headed in.

“Obviously, as one of the founding members of the Xbox team, I’m not pleased with where things are today. I don’t love watching all of the value that I helped create slowly get eroded away,” Fryer stated.

“I’m sad because from my perspective, it looks like Xbox has no desire or literally can’t ship hardware anymore… Personally, I think Xbox hardware is dead. The plan appears to be to just drive everybody to Game Pass.”

Well, Fryer’s words seem somewhat prophetic now.

As detailed in an article by PC Gamer’s Lincoln Carpenter, everyone is now coming out of the woodwork to criticise Microsoft for their mishandling of the Xbox brand– including a bunch of former Xbox veterans.

“It's heartbreaking to watch what's happening to this industry that I love. The incentives are misaligned so strongly that fun games and profitable teams aren't what matter,” Eric Neustadter, Xbox Live former operations manager, stated in a post on Bluesky.

I highly suggest giving Carpenter’s article a read, because it is chocked full of quotes like this.

Developers just don’t see a future in the Xbox brand anymore, and it’s almost entirely due to the fact that Microsoft is attempting to replace several members of staff with artificial intelligence.

The thing is, it’s not just developers who feel this way. Fans aren’t on board with Microsoft’s new strategy, or lack thereof, either (as the comments over on the r/xbox subreddit prove).

“the strategy shift towards fewer, larger budget projects seems like a colossal mistake to me,” commented user Oslo_Bear.

“but what do i know, i didn't ask copilot."

“People losing their livelihood over mismanagement is obviously horrible,” replied user Slimbopboogie.

“From the business side of things this reeks of Nadela trying to cut operations costs while scaling their AI infrastructure. It’s so dumb, AI can be a great tool, but not at the expense of jobs.”

Even worse still, Bill Gates himself stated that he believes most jobs will be replaced by AI at some point down the line.

So what’s the end game here exactly, Microsoft?

Replace as many of your workers as possible with soulless computers, just so you can save a buck or two? Even though Microsoft revealed they made $26 billion in net income earlier this year?

My only hope is that people vote with their wallets.

If money is the only language Microsoft talks, I suggest we don’t engage in conversation. Perhaps then they’ll reverse their decision to replace the human elements behind their games.

Oh, but Xbox Game Pass is such great value, so I guess you’ll all keep renewing your subscriptions anyway, right?