‘I Saw How It Was Getting Damaged’: Ex-Bethesda Exec Goes to Town on Xbox’s Mistreatment

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In a strongly worded part of a recent interview, former Bethesda leader Pete Hines heavily criticized Microsoft, though he didn’t mention the company directly.

During an interview with Kirk McKeand, he suggested his previous colleagues lack sincerity and that their reactions are predictable.

Todd Hines spent 24 years working at Bethesda, starting in an entry-level position and eventually moving up to a leadership role. He left the company just before the release of their game, Starfield, in 2023.

As a huge fan, I was pretty shocked when Microsoft bought the publisher back in 2021! It was a massive deal – $7.5 billion, actually – and honestly, it happened with very little pushback. It was a really unusual acquisition, and a big moment for the industry.

Hines, it seems, was not particularly elated with his new parent company:

I stayed because I felt I still had a role to play. I realized this place needed me, but I also felt unable to make the changes I believed were necessary to keep things running smoothly and protect everyone involved. We’d built a really successful and efficient video game company, and I wanted to preserve that.

I felt my role was to ensure the company remained one of the most efficient publishers in the industry. When I realized I couldn’t safeguard that standard and saw the company being harmed and mistreated, I decided I couldn’t stand by and watch it happen.

The executive originally planned to leave the company in 2022, but the repeated delays of the Starfield game meant they didn’t leave until 2023.

As Kotaku pointed out, he had been with the company long enough to give testimony in the FTC’s case regarding Microsoft’s purchase of Activision. He had also previously emailed colleagues questioning why Call of Duty continued to be released on multiple platforms, considering Bethesda’s games were becoming exclusive to certain systems.

Xbox didn’t begin considering bringing its games to PlayStation 5 until after a widely criticized announcement in early 2024 where they revealed they would only release four titles on other platforms.

Microsoft reached an agreement with Disney to make Indiana Jones and the Great Circle available only on their platforms, despite initial plans for a wider release. As a result, Hines later had to justify this decision during the legal proceedings.

I knew this game was coming to the PS5 eventually, and it’s awesome to hear it’s also hitting the Switch 2 later this year! I’m really excited to play it on both consoles.

Hines shared that while he respected some individuals at Microsoft, he found the inner workings of the company to be the most disappointing aspect of his professional life.

He explained:

Talking is one thing, but it’s important to follow through on your words. Do you actually intend to do what you say, or are you just saying what people want to hear and then forgetting about it? That wasn’t how things worked at Bethesda – we always delivered on our promises.

We didn’t fully deliver on everything we promised, and we certainly fell short of Bethesda’s claims. However, our goal was to be true to our word – to only promise what we could deliver, and to deliver on those promises. Ultimately, I believe Bethesda isn’t being genuine or authentic, and that’s not surprising.

Ouch.

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2026-04-11 04:07