Former Bethesda Executive Questions Microsoft’s Commitment to Authenticity in The Elder Scrolls 6 Development

Pete Hines spent 24 years at Bethesda before announcing his retirement in 2023, just a month after the launch of Starfield. In a recent interview, the former VP of communications and marketing revealed that he had been contemplating his exit for some time, particularly after the Microsoft acquisition, as he felt “powerless to do what I think needs to be done to run this place properly.”

Bethesda, known for franchises like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, was sold to Microsoft along with its parent company Zenimax in 2021 for $7.5 billion. While he didn’t name Microsoft directly, Hines indicated in an April 10 interview that the new ownership was not a good fit for Bethesda, complicating his efforts to manage the studio’s reputation.

“I was staying there because this place still needs me,” Hines stated. “I reached a point where I realized that while it needed me, I was unable to do what I believed was necessary to run it effectively, protect the team, and uphold the standards we had worked so hard to establish as a top-tier video game developer and publisher.”

He elaborated, “When I found myself unable to fulfill my role in maintaining that level of efficiency, I felt it was being damaged and mistreated. I couldn’t just sit back and watch it happen.”

Although he initially planned to leave, Hines ended up staying longer than anticipated due to multiple delays with Starfield, which was originally set for a November 11, 2022 release. His departure coincided with a critical moment for Xbox, marked by the troubled launch of the console exclusive Redfall earlier in 2023 and the announcement that some first-party titles would be making their way to PlayStation 5 the following winter.

Hines was also called to testify during the FTC trial regarding Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. He had previously circulated an internal email expressing concerns about Call of Duty remaining multiplatform while Bethesda’s titles were being turned into Xbox exclusives.

During his testimony, he defended the idea that a game like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle could benefit from being exclusive to one platform, despite it initially being planned for multiple platforms when Bethesda was independent. The game is now set to release on both PS5 and Switch 2 as Microsoft shifts away from exclusivity for most of its first-party studios.

Reflecting on his career, Hines noted that the most disappointing aspect was joining a company he admired, only to discover how it operated behind the scenes. “Talking is one thing, but I’m all about the follow-up. Do you mean what you say, or are you just saying things that sound good, only to forget them as soon as you leave the room? That’s not how we operated at Bethesda.”

Having joined Bethesda right out of college and working his way up from creating guides to presenting at E3, Hines didn’t specify who at Microsoft or which aspects of its culture he was critiquing, but it was clear he held little affection for the tech giant turned AI powerhouse.

“That’s not to say we always lived up to our promises,” he acknowledged. “We probably fell short, but our intention was always to be genuine and authentic. Honestly, I still believe Bethesda is part of something that lacks authenticity and genuineness. That shouldn’t come as a surprise.”