Bethesda’s Pete Hines Announces Retirement [IGN]

Pete Hines, one of the key executives at Bethesda Softworks, has announced his retirement from the company.

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— Bethesda (@bethesda) October 16, 2023

In a statement published on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Bethesda announced Hines’ retirement and thanked him for his contributions to the studio during his nearly 25-year tenure. “Pete’s public presence was only a small part of his role at Bethesda,” the company wrote, “although the way he represented us carried over into the values he nurtured here: authenticity, integrity and passion.”

Around the same time the statement went out from Bethesda, Hines posted his statement on his personal X account, confirming his decision to retire and thanking his colleagues and fans. “After 24 years, I have decided my time at Bethesda Softworks has come to an end,” Hines wrote. “I am retiring and will begin an exciting new chapter of my life exploring interests and passions, donating my time where I can, and taking more time to enjoy life.”

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— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) October 16, 2023

Pete Hines joined Bethesda Softworks in 1999, where he was the Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Communications for over 23 years before getting promoted to Head of Global Publishing last October. Hines played a key role in Bethesda Softworks and, along with Todd Howard, is one of the most recognizable faces from the company behind Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series.

In 2020, when Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax Studios, Hines was one of many expressing public support for the deal. In a blog post published the day of the announcement, Hines made a case for why the tech giant was “the perfect fit” for Bethesda, arguing that Microsoft’s acquisition would allow the studio to “make even better games going forward” thanks to the additional resources that would come from the buyout.

Hines was also one of the witnesses during the Microsoft vs Federal Trade Commission (FTC) trial over the Activision Blizzard merger that took place in June. During his testimony, Hines implied he was blindsided and frustrated that Xbox was committed to keeping Activision games like Call of Duty multiplatform, unlike games published by Bethesda, which was instructed to make its future titles exclusive to Xbox and PC.

Hines often spoke publicly on behalf of the studio, such as reassuring players that Arkane Studios’ latest game, Redfall, will be a good game, comparing its disastrous launch to that of Fallout 76. The announcement comes roughly a month after Bethesda released Starfield, the first new intellectual property developed by the studio in 25 years. It has been met with success, with the game hitting 10 million players less than three weeks after its release on Xbox and PC.

Hines’ exit comes just days after Microsoft announced it had finally bought Activision Blizzard for $69 billion following a near two-year battle with regulators.

Image Credit: Charley Gallay / Stringer / Getty Images

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.