Bethesda boss Pete Hines isn’t happy that Microsoft is forcing the studio’s games to skip the PS5, according to internal emails unsealed during the ongoing Microsoft/Activision vs. FTC court proceedings. Hines quizzed Xbox boss Phil Spencer about the announcement of Call of Duty remaining multiplatform following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard and wanted to know why Bethesda games were treated differently.
Pete Hines questioned Microsoft’s PS5 strategy for Bethesda games
Hines first emailed ZeniMax and Bethesda leadership, including Todd Howard, a snippet of Microsoft’s announcement regarding the Activision Blizzard merger and Call of Duty’s multiplatform status. Hines seemed annoyed and wanted to know why Bethesda wasn’t given a heads-up about the deal and why Activision’s handling is the “opposite” of how Bethesda is being handled.
Hines then reached out to Spencer via an email that was milder in tone than the one above, expressing his surprise at the announcement while reiterating that Bethesda was told to do the “opposite” of what Microsoft wants Activision Blizzard to do, especially with Call of Duty.
This email is particularly interesting in light of Hines’ deposition, during which he claimed that keeping Starfield exclusive to Xbox consoles was the right thing to do from a development standpoint.
