STACK November Issue 68

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How did the idea for the E3 showcase
materialise?
PETE HINES: It was an idea I had a
year or so ago. I pitched it to a few folks
in my department and to Todd (Howard,
game director). Everyone liked the idea
of making a bigger splash, but doing it
in our own way. Todd liked the idea of
only having to do one demo instead of
having to do the same one over and over
in the booth. He hadn’t yet wrapped his
head around the entire world watching
that one demo…by then it was too late for him
to back out.
From a publisher's perspective, how has the
landscape changed for Bethesda over the last
five years?
Games are a bigger business and more
popular than ever. Console, PC, mobile, eSports,
free-to-play, indie, big triple-A titles…there’s
something for everyone. From our perspective,
all of those avenues present an opportunity, but
we continue to look at who we are and how we
do things and what approach works best for us.
I think we will continue to push ourselves to
innovate and evolve, to try new things and to
bring something new and different each time we
work on a game.
What’s involved in endorsing a new IP? Can
you outline the process for us?Who has the
final word on whether the project is green lit?
In short, it’s complicated. Every situation is
different. What’s the idea, what’s the studio,
how does it fit their strengths, how is it different
from what we’re already doing, if we didn’t do
new IP what would we do instead? There are so
many questions you have to go through to figure
out what’s the right thing to do. Rarely do you
find yourself in a situation where you have two
options: one is great and one is terrible.
The tougher challenge is looking at multiple
options and all of them have real potential,
along with some risks, and you have to figure
out which one is the best one to do.
Ultimately we ask for a lot of input,
weigh options, and try to pick the idea
that everyone is the most excited about
and has the best chance for success.
Bethesda successfully rebooted
theWolfenstein franchise with The
New Order.What were some of the
challenges involved in turning on
a new generation of gamers to a
franchise that is now 23 years old?
Well, the challenge wasn’t the
age of the franchise, it was that the
franchise had seen better days. The
last few games in the series weren’t runaway
successes. So we had a brand we still thought
was cool, we had an audience that was a mix
of “I don’t know what that is” and “I used to
(or still) love Wolfenstein!”, and everything in
between. MachineGames took a look at it, and
their own experience as developers, and said we
can take the essential elements of what makes
Wolfenstein cool, bring a lot of new concepts to
it, and make something people will enjoy.
In The
Vault
After blowing open E3 this year with its Sunday night
press conference, Bethesda revealed its hand with an
enviable line-up set to be delivered over the coming
12 months.This November, following an effective
nationwide marketing campaign, Fallout 4 opens
its post-apocalyptic vault in what is one of the
most anticipated games of 2015.
STACK recently spoke with Pete Hines – VP
of PR and marketing at Bethesda Softworks and a veteran of 16
years – about what it takes to get a new IP up and running, DOOM,
Dishonored 2, and of course, Fallout 4.
DOOM – coming in 2016
visit FEATURE GAMES
26 NOVEMBER 2015