"Nearly two years after leaving the Fallout and Elder Scrolls maker, the veteran video game marketer shared his concerns about subscription gaming's long-term impact on the industry. "You need to properly acknowledge, compensate, and recognize what it takes to create that content and not just make a game, but make a product," he said in a new interview with DBLTap."
"Hines had worked at Bethesda for over two decades when it was acquired by Microsoft in 2021 for over $7 billion. While the relationship seemed like a natural fit following a long history of closely working together, going back to the days of porting Morrowind to Xbox, there were clear cracks as Microsoft's gaming strategy evolved following the launch of the Xbox Series X/S."
"Internal communications revealed during the FTC trial over the tech giant's acquisition of Activision Blizzard suggested Hines in particular was frustrated with a mandate that Bethesda stop bringing its games to rival platform PlayStation 5. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was multiplatform before becoming an Xbox exclusive, only for it to go multiplatform again when Microsoft pivoted in the years after Hines retired."
Skepticism surrounds Game Pass and subscription gaming due to concerns that subscription models can undercompensate creators and change incentives for producing and servicing games. Bethesda worked closely with Microsoft for decades and was acquired in 2021 for over $7 billion, a relationship that later revealed strategic tensions as Microsoft's gaming strategy evolved after Xbox Series X/S. Internal communications from the FTC trial showed frustration over mandates to stop bringing games to PlayStation 5. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle shifted between multiplatform and Xbox-exclusive status. Recent mass layoffs at Microsoft's gaming division, including cancellation of the loot shooter Blackbird, reflect organizational impacts of shifting priorities.
Read at Kotaku
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