Dear ZeniMax and bethesda.net 2022-02-22

Today I received an email from your subsidiary corporation bethesda.net, telling me that you are getting rid of the bethesda.net launcher and that I will be able to migrate my games and Wallet to my Steam account. So I went to my password manager and looked up bethesda and found some Elder Scrolls II account that I had long since forgotten about. I did an image search, looked at some screenshots, figured the game looked kind of dated but mildly interesting. So I went to your web site and downloaded the installer, which installs the launcher mentioned above. So, if I understand your email correctly, that means the launcher you currently have available for download will be decommissioned soon and that players will need to use Steam if they wish to continue playing the game.

However, I do not have a Steam account. I think Steam sucks, so I WON'T have a Steam account. So... how do I get bethesda to delete my account and any related information permanently? Well I'll just log in to my accou... nope, can't do that because I'd have to agree to your new terms of service, which I do not agree to. Well I'll just go to your support site and see if... nope, there is nothing there about deleting accounts. There is plenty of follow-the-links shit there that gives basic troubleshooting but absolutely nothing that lets you contact a human in any way. So why don't I just click on the Contact link and... oh no wait, there is nothing there about contacting a human either. In fact it is mostly about getting a career with ZeniMax, as if I would be comfortable working for a corporation that has no contact information. Well, the good news is that there is a link to the Technical Support Page where I can find more links to the list of games, a link to download the launcher you are decommissioning, and no way to contact you. There is however a link to the knowledgebase, and when I search that for "delete account" I get this article which is updated today at 02:58PM but you fail to mention what time zone that is. Anyways, it says:

Remove Content.

If you wish to request removal of any content you have posted, you should also contact our Privacy Coordinator as set forth below.

Privacy requests should be directed to the ZeniMax Media Inc. Privacy Coordinator at privacy@support.zenimax.com, or 1370 Piccard Drive, Rockville, MD 20850 USA. Please keep in mind that certain Services will not be available if you withdraw your consent, or otherwise delete or object to our processing of certain personal data. We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable law, and we will inform you if we do not intend to comply with your request.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory data protection authority.

Look, to sellout a platform to Steam is cheap. Not illegal, but lame. To have a web site that is clearly designed to not provide contact information is sketchy. Not illegal, but about as professional as a guy selling college diplomas from the back of a white van. Don't worry, I know gamers don't give a fuck, especially the ones that play games that look like this:

It could be worse.

I tried sending an email to info@bethesda.net and support@bethesda.net asking if in fact the email you just sent me means that Steam will be the only way to play the game in the future, but forgive me for being skeptical that I'll get a reply. I guess I'll wait a week for a reply and if I don't get anything I'll try sending a message to privacy@support.zenimax.com - even though the actual link on the email address in the article above is to a web site rather than an email address. Bush league ZeniMax... bush league.

s.