Subscription Services Aren’t Properly Rewarding Content Makers, Says Ex-Bethesda Executive, and Former Xbox Executive Agrees

Former Bethesda Head of Publishing and Communication Pete Hines has voiced strong concerns about the way subscription services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus treat game developers and publishers. Speaking in an interview with Dbltap, Hines criticized what he saw as shortsighted decision-making in how these services reward the creators whose content keeps them alive.

“Subscriptions have become the new four-letter word, right? You can’t buy a product anymore. When you talk about a subscription that relies on content, if you don’t figure out how to balance the needs of the service and the people running the service with the people who are providing the content - without which your subscription is worth jack shit - then you have a real problem. 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. That tension is hurting a lot of people, including the content creators themselves, because they’re fitting into an ecosystem that is not properly valuing and rewarding what they’re making.”

Hines, who left Bethesda in October 2023 after nearly 24 years with the company, had firsthand experience with Xbox Game Pass following Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda. His remarks suggest that while the model may provide value for consumers, it leaves creators struggling to be fairly compensated for their work.

Backing Hines’ perspective, Shannon Loftis, a former Xbox executive who spent nearly three decades at Microsoft and was most recently VP of Xbox Game Studios before departing in 2022, wrote on LinkedIn:

“As a longtime first-party Xbox developer, I can attest that Pete is correct. While Game Pass can claim a few victories with games that otherwise would have sunk beneath the waves (Human Fall Flat, e.g.), the majority of game adoption on Game Pass comes at the expense of retail revenue unless the game is engineered from the ground up for post-release monetization. I could (and may someday) write pages on the weird inner tensions this creates.”

These criticisms come even as subscription services are showing strong consumer adoption. According to Circana’s Senior Director Mat Piscatella, June 2025 was a record month in the US, with $562 million spent on subscription services. While this demonstrates that Microsoft and Sony are likely to continue investing heavily in the model, it does not necessarily mean that developers and publishers are being fairly compensated for the games fueling these services.

Hines also reflected on his tenure at Bethesda, revealing that his biggest regret was the fallout over the Fallout 76 Collector’s Edition. The special edition was supposed to include a canvas bag but shipped with a cheaper nylon substitute, sparking significant backlash. Initially, Bethesda offered only 500 Atoms (the game’s currency) as compensation, but eventually, the promised canvas bags were sent to players after outcry grew. Hines admitted he should have acted sooner to resolve the issue.

The debate over subscription services highlights a critical tension in the modern games industry: while players benefit from affordable access to massive libraries, creators are left questioning whether the current compensation structures truly sustain the cost and effort of making games.