By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.
16.10.2023 - 16:19 / theverge.com / Pete Hines / Emma Roth
By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.
Pete Hines, the head of publishing at Bethesda, is retiring after 24 years at the gaming company. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hines announced that his time at Bethesda “has come to an end.” Hines first joined Bethesda in 1999 as the senior vice president of global marketing and communications, becoming a well-known figure at the company and the face of Fallout. Last year, Hines became Bethesda’s head of publishing.
Bethesda has seen some major shifts over the past couple of years. Microsoft completed its acquisition of the Skyrim developer in 2021. In August, Bethesda released the space exploration RPG Starfield following the rocky launch of Redfall in May.
“This is certainly not goodbye by any means,” Hines says. “My love of Bethesda and its people has never wavered, and I will never stop being part of this incredible community we have grown.”
Bethesda also commented on Hines’ departure on X. “Pete’s public presence was only a small part of his role at Bethesda, although the way he represented us carried over into the values he nurtured here: authenticity, integrity and passion,” Bethesda writes. “His contributions have been integral in building Bethesda and its family of studios into the world-class organization that it is today.”
Hines notes that his decision to retire did not come “easily or quickly,” adding that he “feels like the time is right” following the launch of Starfield.
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By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.
Stop for a second and picture your favorite video game developer or publisher. It doesn’t matter their “scale” as long as they’re prominent. More than likely, you can name-drop at least one or two people who are the “faces” of that company. For example, Nintendo has Eiji Aonuma, Shigeru Miyamoto, Doug Bowser, etc. Microsoft has Phil Spencer, Sony has/had Jim Ryan, and on it goes. For Bethesda, they have/had many people who have helped define them over the years for one reason or another. Easily, the one that most people know is Todd Howard. He’s the guy who honestly makes the biggest announcements for the company and helps crank out their best games.
By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.
Just a couple of weeks after finishing its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft is making some changes to its Xbox studio structure. In an internal memo acquired by The Verge, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty is being promoted to president of game content and studios, a role that will put him in charge of ZeniMax and its subsidiary studios, including Bethesda Softworks.
Microsoft has announced a reorganisation of its Xbox leadership team, bringing closer integration with Bethesda and parent company ZeniMax.
Former Skyrim lead designer Bruce Nesmith left Bethesda, and his updated role as senior systems designer, partway through Starfield's development, so he was as surprised as the rest of us when the massive space RPG was released in remarkably good condition.
In a year with Microsoft launching Forza Motorsport, Hi-Fi Rush andStarfield, it’s crazy that Redfall also exists. Released in May 2023 to an overwhelmingly negative response, its player base is almost non-existent, even with the recent Title Update, which adds the long-awaited 60 FPS Performance Mode.
As Starfield developers begin to depart Bethesda after the release of the studio's massive RPG, some fans are despondently casting their minds forward to the eventual departure of studio lead Todd Howard.
Pete Hines isn’t the only major departure from Bethesda Softworks. Will Shen, lead quest designer and design director on Starfield, has also announced that he’s leaving the studio. He’ll join Something Weird Games, a studio of former talent from BioWare, Bethesda and Obsidian Entertainment, to work on Wyrdsong, their debut RPG.
Long-time Bethesda staffer Pete Hines is departing the company after 24 years.
Pete Hines, Bethesda’s head of publishing, announced today he’s retiring and leaving the game company. The executive, who’s been with Bethesda since 1999, said that he feels the launch of Starfield marks an endpoint of his career, and that he plans to take “more time to enjoy life.”
Pete Hines, the Senior Vice President of Publishing for Bethesda Softworks, announced his retirement today on social media. The gaming executive has worked at the publisher for 24 years, helping to bring to life a multitude of games across the decades.