Bethesda’s head of publishing, Pete Hines, has announced his retirement from the company after the recent launch of Starfield.
Another gaming industry head exits out of a major company. Bethesda’s head of publishing, Pete Hines, wrote a statement on social media his intention to retire from the company. He has been with Bethesda for 24 years and seemed excited to explore more of his other hobbies. Hines’ retirement comes at a time of finishing the push for Starfield, and he recognized how opportune the time to leave was.
In the first part of Hines’ statement, he wrote: “After 24 years, I have decided my time at Bethesda Softworks has come to an end,” Hines wrote in a message on social media. “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. This was not a decision I came to easily or quickly, but after an amazing career, culminating in the incredible launch of Starfield, it feels like the time is right.”
Hines originally had a major background in communications and marketing but began his gaming industry journey as a writer/reviewer. He worked at a now-shut-down site called The Adrenaline Vault. He worked in journalism for three years before joining Bethesda as the SVP of global marketing and communications in 1999. He held this position for 23 years until he became the studio’s head of publishing in 2022.
In the last few years, Hines had grown into the role of being a public face of Bethesda when he appeared in various interviews and on press conference stages—especially promoting Arkane Studios’ Redfall in comparison to the lacklustre launch of Fallout 76. The company stated how his public presence was only a small portion of what Hines did at Bethesda and that “his contributions have been integral in building Bethesda and its family of studios into the world-class organization that it is today.”
While this announcement came shortly after the launch of Starfield, it was truly a great place to end his time with a bang and a new IP. The game marked Bethesda’s first new IP developed by the studio in 25 years; the last was when they took over the Elder Scrolls games. Starfield achieved great success by attracting 10 million players in under three weeks since its launch on Xbox and PC.
