Overview
- Hines, in an interview published Thursday, said Bethesda became “part of something that is not authentic and not genuine” after Microsoft bought parent ZeniMax in 2021 for $7.5 billion.
- He said he left in 2023 after 24 years because he felt powerless to protect the team and saw the studio getting “damaged,” with his mental health deteriorating.
- He added that repeated delays to Starfield kept him at the company longer than planned as he had intended to depart once the game shipped.
- He highlighted rifts over exclusivity, citing his FTC testimony and internal emails that questioned why Call of Duty stayed on PlayStation while Bethesda titles shifted to Xbox, as Indiana Jones later launched on PS5 and is planned for Switch 2.
- He defended Bethesda’s design approach, saying its vast open worlds let players stack quests and create chaos in ways most games do not, pointing to Red Dead Redemption 2 as a contrast.