Veteran RPG designer and co-creator of the original Fallout, Tim Cain, has confirmed he’s no longer semi-retired and is now working at Obsidian Entertainment on a mystery project. Revealing the news on his YouTube channel, Cain explained that he’s moved from occasional contract work to a full-time role at the studio. The project he’s attached to has not yet been announced.
Until now, Cain had been semi-retired and taking on limited work. Most recently, he contributed part-time to Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds 2, writing the mathematical lectures that play in-game on the Grand Plan Wireless radio station. Cain also runs a personal YouTube channel focused on game design and industry history.
Cain’s channel has become popular among developers and RPG fans for its behind-the-scenes stories about Fallout, Troika Games, and his time at Obsidian. According to his most recent upload, Cain has now shifted to full-time work on something new.
In the video, Cain made it clear that fans shouldn’t waste time trying to guess what it is. “Don’t bother guessing. You’re not gonna guess right,” Cain said about the project. This statement likely rules out some obvious candidates in fans’ minds, particularly The Outer Worlds 3 or a new Fallout game.
Cain’s return adds to an already impressive roster at Obsidian, one that still employs many of the key figures from the development of Fallout: New Vegas. Josh Sawyer serves as lead designer on various projects, and John Gonzalez, who was the narrative lead on New Vegas, recently returned to Obsidian after working at Guerrilla Games on Horizon. Leonard Boyarsky, Cain’s collaborator and co-creator of the original Fallout, also serves as creative director and was heavily involved in The Outer Worlds 2.
The concentration of classic Fallout talent under one roof has long fueled fan hopes for another entry in the series from Obsidian.
Cain has a legendary track record in RPG development. Beyond co-creating Fallout at Interplay in 1997, he co-founded Troika Games, which made Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura and the cult classic Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. Prior to his semi-retirement, he worked at Obsidian from 2011 to 2020, and co-directed The Outer Worlds with Boyarsky.
Central to Cain’s game design philosophy is an emphasis on player choice, system-driven gameplay, and dark humor. These elements defined the original Fallout, and they’ve since influenced the entire CRPG genre.
Tim Cain’s new Obsidian project: what we don’t know
The nature of Cain’s new project remains completely under wraps. Fans have speculated about everything from a new IP to an unexpected revival of an old franchise. For years, fans have begged for a new Obsidian Fallout project, while others have dreamed about an Arcanum sequel, now that Microsoft owns those rights.
If an older franchise was to be revived, through Microsoft, Obsidian Entertainment has access to numerous possible IPs to choose from. Properties from the Activision Blizzard acquisition, like the rights to Arcanum, are technically on the table. Despite years of denials from the studio and Cain’s comments suggesting otherwise, Fallout is technically also among the possibilities, since Microsoft now owns both Obsidian and Bethesda.
That said, John Gonzalez previously noted on his LinkedIn that his current Obsidian project is “not FNV2,” shutting down speculation about a New Vegas sequel. Cain’s similar phrasing suggests he’s working on the same mystery title, though it’s possible he’s working on something equally surprising.
