Pete Hines and Todd Howard say Bethesda joining Xbox was due to trust

Source: Bethesda Softworks

In a new podcast, Larry Hyrb and Phil Spencer from Xbox talk with Pete Hines and Todd Howard of Bethesda about the recent news that Microsoft is acquiring ZeniMax and what that means for Bethesda joining Xbox. During the conversation, Spencer mentions that the talks began sometime over the summer and that the past relationships of both companies was a strong factor.

Hines mentions that both companies share “similar values and ideas,” with his thoughts echoed by Howard, who says that “…at the end of the day, it’s relationships.” Both Hines and Howard also mention being impressed with Xbox Game Pass and how more players can access Bethesda games through the service. You can watch the full podcast below.

Over the course of the podcast, the four of them also share several amusing stories, such as Howard explaining that The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind would actually reboot the Xbox during long loading screens in order to manage the limited memory. Hines notes that the team threw a “double memory party” when the planned amount of memory in the Xbox 360 was doubled.

We’ll have to see what’s next for these teams at Xbox over the next few months. The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are set to release on November 10.