Let me start by making one thing clear. No matter how many times you come across this news article on any number of sites today, it's worth reading the full interview with Pete Hines instead of focusing on completely on this one part of it. Because while there's a very good reason we're all reporting on something so turbulent, Hines' discussion with former TheGamer editor-in-chief Kirk McKeand is far-reaching and full of enjoyable moments.
That aside? Yeah. Hines doesn't mince his words when it comes to the reasoning behind his departure. The former head of publishing at Bethesda Softworks had an extremely fulfilling career creating some of the greatest Western RPGs of all time, but his departure was quick, relatively unplanned, and indicative of his perception of what Bethesda as a company is going through today.
“…and that shouldn't be a surprise to you”
Pete Hines left Bethesda a month after Starfield launched in 2023. He had been with them since 1999. He was there for Morrowind, which breathed new life into a studio that was almost bankrupt. He was there when Oblivion won so many GOTY awards that the industry had to stand up and take notice. He was there when Fallout 3 kept the good times going, when Skyrim debuted and became a huge pop culture sensation that overshadowed all but the shortest list of competing RPGs, and yes, he was there for Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and all the others.
The bottom line is, if you think of Bethesda and Todd Howard is the first face that comes to mind, there's a pretty good chance that Hines' handsome mug will come second. But Hines — I'm reading between the lines to be perfectly clear, but it's pretty hard not to jump to that conclusion — seems to have gotten pretty upset since the company (and the rest of its Zenimax overlord umbrella) was sold to Microsoft in 2021 for a cool $7.5 billion.
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“I stayed because this place still needs me,” Hines told Kirk McKeand on the April 10 episode of Fireside Chat. “I just hit the point of yes, he needs me, and I'm powerless to do what I think needs to be done to run this place properly, protect these people, and maintain what we've worked so hard to build, which is an incredibly efficient, well-run video game developer and publisher.” Those last few years must have been tough, and while Hines doesn't mention Microsoft by name, it's been a full-blown paradigm shift.
There hadn't been anything remotely close to it in all of Bethesda's history up to that point, and it's not hard to imagine a massive change in the output's philosophy from this point forward. Only Todd Howard was exempt from the two-week notice that would likely have eclipsed many of Hines' peers:
“I mean, I gave it two weeks notice. I didn't wait until after Starfield. I knew I was leaving a year ago. Every time Todd delayed Starfield, I thought, fuck it, I'm here for another eight months. And Todd was the only one who knew that. That's another reason I love the man. He showed up at my place when I was at my wits end, and he kept me sane and got me out of it.”
“And when I couldn't protect it,” Hines lamented, “and I saw it being damaged and broken and frankly, being mistreated, being abused, whatever word you want to use, I said 'I'm not going to sit here and watch it happen right in front of me.'” He did “everything he could,” Hines continued, but enough was enough. His mental health was “deplorable” as a result of these seismic changes. Props for sticking around until Starfield crossed the finish line, Pete.
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