Original Fallout co-creator Tim Cain has revealed that he played a role in the events that led to the cancellation of Fallout Van Buren, the codename for the original version of Fallout 3 which was in development at Interplay-owned Black Isle Studios in the early 2000s. If you need a refresher, this took place back in 2002/2003, a good few years before Bethesda bought the IP and went on to make the Fallout 3 we actually ended up getting. Cain had actually left Interplay at the point the game was being developed, having departed to start a studio called Troika Games after working on the first two Fallout games.
Now, in a video on his YouTube channel, (thanks, IGN ) Cain has revealed that in the middle of 2003, an unnamed Interplay vice president asked him to come and play the current prototype of Van Buren. "I don't think they can get [the game] done," Cain cites the VP as having said of Van Buren during this call to him, "so I’m just going to cancel it. But if you look over it and give me an estimate, there’s a chance I wouldn’t cancel it.
" Admitting that a number of collegues at Troika advised him not to get involved, Cain says that he ultimately decided to, reasoning that if he did, there would at least be a possibility that the Van Buren team wouldn't have to go through their game being canceled. Cain played the prototype for "about two hours" and asked the team a number of questions about it before being asked by the vice president to deliver a verdict as to how lon.
