Bethesda’s Pete Hines talks The Evil Within 2 and Rage 2
Finder.com.au has just enjoyed a lengthy chat with Pete Hines, vice-president of Bethesda Softworks, about some of the publisher's future plans.
We're currently over in Dallas, Texas, attending the 21st annual QuakeCon event, a festival of games now run by Bethesda after its acquisition of Quake creator id Software in 2009. We're lucky to have five interviews lined up with a cast of high profile developers. The first cab off the rank was Pete Hines, vice-president of Bethesda Softworks. We spoke about many things and we'll publish the full interview shortly, but a few notable moments deserve immediate attention. I was interested in discovering the existence (or not) of sequels to The Evil Within, developed by Tango Gameworks, a company founded by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, and id Software's venture into an open-world territory, Rage. Both games ultimately proved to be a little niche in their audience pick-up. With 2014 and 2011 release dates respectively, neither The Evil Within nor Rage have had sequels announced. Here is how the conversation went:
Did The Evil Within sell well enough to warrant a sequel?
I think both The Evil Within and Rage did well enough to make sequels.
Pete Hines: Without hesitation) Yes!
What about Rage?
Pete Hines: I think so.
So are they in the pipeline then?
Pete Hines: I can't talk about the unannounced stuff and what we may or may not do. I get myself in trouble whenever I do that. Even when we were talking about the Morrowind Remaster, if I come out and say, 'I just don't think that is going to happen,' then people freak out. So I won't confirm or deny stuff we may or may not do, as people jump to the wrong conclusions. But I think both The Evil Within and Rage did well enough to make sequels. Personally, I loved Rage and had a tonne of fun playing it, but we have a lot of stuff in the pipeline right now so you will have to wait and see.
Our take? Fans of these series should be very happy to hear that Bethesda view both games a success from a financial perspective, with audiences worthy enough to bankroll a sequel. It suggests to us it is a case of when not if they'll be produced. That said, there is no indication as to when they may be targeting a release, or whether more exciting projects may come along in the meantime and demand the focus of their respective studios.