Back in 2023, Pete Hines, one of the most veteran and earliest members of Bethesda with over 25 years of work in the company, had left the studio after the release of Starfield. And since then, many had been wondering about the reason for this unlikely departure and whether Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda which happened in 2021, had played any part for his decision.
And recently in an interview with Kirk McKeand on the new Firezide Chat series, Hines has spoken on detail about everything that had led him to depart from Bethesda which was extremely difficult for him in more ways than one.
“I was staying there because this place still needs me. I just hit a point of yes, it needs me, and I am powerless to do what I think needs to be done to run this place properly, to protect these people, to maintain what we worked so hard to create, which is an incredibly efficient, well run video game developer and publisher.
When I was unable to do what I thought my job should involve in continuing to have that place be, you know, if not the most efficient publisher in the game industry, it was way the f*** up there.”
“And when I couldn’t protect it, and I saw how it was getting damaged and broken apart and frankly mistreated, abused, whatever word you want to use, I said I am not going to sit here and watch this happen right in front of me.”
All of these indicate a drastic change of core values that the studio had stood for decades and which have also left a mark in all of their greatest titles, and that seems to be the impetus that had led Hines to finally leave Bethesda Game Studios.
He also revealed that his deteriorating mental health was also a reason for his departure from Bethesda:
“I think I’ve done everything I can do. This is not when I wanted it to end or how I wanted it to end, but that’s not really up to me. And at a certain point, truthfully, my mental health was so deplorable that I just said I cannot.”
