Bethesda execs weren’t clear why its owner’s approach to Activision was the complete reverse of its policy for Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6.
If you ask me, we should send major corporations to court more often. It always seems to turn up no end of interesting tidbits. This time, the trial between the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Microsoft has revealed a February 2022 email from Bethesda exec Pete Hines, in which he voices his confusion and frustration about Microsoft’s stated decision to keep Bethesda games exclusive to its console platform while staying “committed to Sony” in regards to Call of Duty.
Shared by Axios reporter Stephen Totilo on Twitter, the email from Hines was sent to fellow Bethesda head honchos Todd Howard, Todd Vaughn, and Jamie Leder. In it, Hines tells his fellow execs that he’s “confused” by a then-recent blog post from Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith, in which Smith pledges to keep Activision games like COD on PlayStation in the event Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through.
