Former Bethesda executive Pete Hines has opened up on some of the predictions people made about Bethesda games over the years, and why he stuck to his guns when others doubted him.
Speaking to dbltap, Hines said people questioned if The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind would even work as an Xbox exclusive, or if The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim could find success with its release date–November 11, 2011–being so close to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (November 8, 2011).
“‘Oh, Skyrim can’t survive going up against Call of Duty. Same window. Everybody’s gonna play Call of Duty. Nobody’s gonna buy your game,'” Hines recalls hearing.
For his part, Hines said he understands Call of Duty is a huge brand, but he believed Bethesda had a “better game” with Skyrim and wasn’t afraid to spend marketing dollars on it.
“I will go up against those guys. I will spend [marketing money] against those guys. I will never spend anywhere near as much and I can still win,” he recalled.
Both games succeeded in 2011, with Modern Warfare 3 finishing as the No. 1 best-selling game and Skyrim coming in second for the year in the US. Skyrim has gone on to sell more than 60 million copies, making it one of the best-selling games of all time. A final sales number for Modern Warfare 3 is unknown, although Skyrim did benefit from numerous ports to other platforms over the years.
Another line Hines heard was that Bethesda should avoid releasing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in the spring (it launched in March 2006) because “nobody releases games in the spring.” But in the end, Hines said, “We did just fine.” The game is still enjoying success to this day, thanks to the 2025 remaster, which is 2025’s No. 2 best-selling game in the US.
Challenging preconceived notions and finding success was “what made it so fun,” Hines said about his time at Bethesda. “I think we were better at it than anybody else in terms of what we were able to do, when you look at the awards we won, the players we brought in, and how we went about doing it right. I wanted to be a part of a company where if anybody peeks into a window to see how we’re doing this, I feel okay about it,” he said.
Hines left Bethesda after Microsoft acquired its parent company, ZeniMax. Hines is now retired, but he’s continued to share his opinions, including how he feels about Xbox Game Pass.
