Tim Cain

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title: "Tim Cain" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["20th-century-american-lgbtq-people", "21st-century-american-lgbtq-people", "american-gay-men", "american-video-game-designers", "american-video-game-programmers", "dungeons-&-dragons-video-game-designers", "interplay-entertainment-people", "lgbtq-video-game-developers", "living-people", "obsidian-entertainment-people", "year-of-birth-missing-(living-people)"] description: "American video game developer" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Cain" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American video game developer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox social media personality"]

Field	Value
name	Tim Cain
image	Timothy-cain-gdc2010 cropped.jpg
caption	Cain on the GDC Online 2010
birth_name	Timothy Cain
birth_date
education	University of Virginia (BSc)
University of California, Irvine (MSc)
spouse
known_for	Creator of Fallout series
occupation	Programmer, designer, producer
employer	Obsidian Entertainment
stats_update	November 7th, 2025
::

| name = Tim Cain | image = Timothy-cain-gdc2010 cropped.jpg | caption = Cain on the GDC Online 2010 | birth_name = Timothy Cain | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | education = University of Virginia (BSc) University of California, Irvine (MSc) | spouse = | known_for = Creator of Fallout series | occupation = Programmer, designer, producer | employer = Obsidian Entertainment |stats_update=November 7th, 2025|youtube_handle=@CainOnGames|youtube_years_active=2011–present|youtube_subscribers=207k}}

Timothy Cain (born August 25, 1965) is an American video game developer best known as the creator, producer, lead programmer and one of the main designers of the 1997 video game Fallout. In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.

Early life, family and education

Cain was born on August 25, 1965, and was raised in a suburb of Alexandria, Virginia. He attended the University of Virginia, and in 1989 received a master's degree in computer science at University of California, Irvine.

Career

Early work

During his time in college, he helped a friend program a card game, Grand Slam Bridge, for CYBRON Corporation which was released in 1986.

Interplay Entertainment

Cain began working at Interplay Entertainment in 1991. The first game released with his involvement was The Bard's Tale Construction Set (1991) where he served as one of the game's programmers. He was also a programming consultant on Stonekeep (1995) and helped with coding for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (1997).

''Fallout'' and ''Fallout 2''

In early 1994, he began work on an isometric game engine which would eventually develop into the post-apocalyptic role-playing video game Fallout. For the first six months, he was the only employee on the project. He eventually took over the producer role from Thomas R. Decker who had to supervise multiple other projects at the time. Fallout was released in 1997 after three and half years of development to critical acclaim.

He was placed on the team for the sequel, Fallout 2, over his objections, wanting instead to work on a project unrelated to Fallout. Cain later explained in May 2023 that he left Fallout 2 months into development due to burnout and the cut in his bonus pay for Fallout by executive producer Brian Fargo as punishment for a game-delaying buffer overflow crash bug. Colleagues Jason D. Anderson and Leonard Boyarsky resigned along with him. In an interview, he criticized the bigger influence from sales/marketing department during Fallout 2 development, saying, "We were losing part of the game to a larger group who had bigger plans for it."

Troika Games

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Troika_Games'Founders(left_to_right)_Jason_D._Anderson,_Tim_Cain_and_Leonard_Boyarsky.jpg" caption="Jason Anderson]] (left) and [[Leonard Boyarsky]] (right)"] ::

Cain co-founded Troika Games in 1998 with former Fallout colleagues Jason Anderson and Leonard Boyarsky.

That same year, Cain, Anderson, and Boyarsky began work co-designing Troika’s first game, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. Cain also served as both project lead and lead programmer. Arcanum was a commercial success upon its 2001 release, debuting as the fourth bestselling video game of the period according to NPD Intelect.

His next game reunited him with Thomas R. Decker, the original Fallout producer. As project leader and lead designer he produced within 20 months the Dungeons & Dragons game The Temple of Elemental Evil for publisher Atari in 2003. While he loved making the game, he was disappointed that it did not result how he wanted it to be.

After Bethesda Game Studios secured the Fallout license from Interplay Entertainment in 2004, Cain expressed disappointment.

::quote

::

Cain had mixed reactions to Fallout 3, praising Bethesda's understanding of Fallout lore as well as the adaptation of "S.P.E.C.I.A.L." system into a first-person shooter role-playing video game (FPS-RPG), but he criticized the humor and recycling of too many story elements from the earlier Fallout games.

He helped out programming the last Troika game, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, a horror RPG for Activision in 2004. He also worked on a post-apocalyptic roleplay game for which he could not convince any publisher to fund. As consequence he had to lay off most employees in late 2004 and shuttered Troika Games in February 2005.

Carbine Studios

Cain joined Carbine Studios when it was formed in 2005 Cain left Carbine Studios in July 2011.

Obsidian Entertainment

In 2011, Tim Cain joined Obsidian Entertainment as senior programmer. He worked on Pillars of Eternity, which was funded through Kickstarter. He was also a co-director for The Outer Worlds. As of June 2020, Cain was no longer employed by Obsidian as a full time employee, but still worked for them on The Outer Worlds 2, as well as for two other companies on a contract basis. On December 5, 2025, Tim announced on his YouTube channel that he had moved back to Southern California and returned to full time, in person employment with Obsidian.

Youtube channel

Cain created a YouTube channel in 2011. He began regularly uploading videos in 2023 in which he discusses topics such as the video game industry, video game development, business management, and his experiences with different companies and projects, as well as occasional personal stories. As of November 2025, the channel has released 674 videos and has 192k subscribers. ::quote

::

Personal life

Cain came out as a gay man in the early 2000s after concealing his sexuality throughout much of his early career. He married his husband Robert Land on July 14, 2011. He resided in the Seattle metropolitan area between 2020 and 2025, after previously living in the Los Angeles area for most of his career, and returned to Irvine located in Southern California in 2025.

Cain is affected by hereditary color blindness, stating in a Gamasutra interview that he "[can now] see less than half the spectrum of colors". He enjoys cooking, particularly Japanese and Chinese cuisine, and his favorite dishes are garlic chicken fried rice and chicken karaage.

Games

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role(s)
1986	Grand Slam Bridge	Programmer
1991	The Bard's Tale Construction Set	Designer, programmer
1993	Rags to Riches: The Financial Market Simulation	Programmer, additional design
1995	Stonekeep	Programming consultant
1997	Star Trek: Starfleet Academy	Programmer
Fallout	Creator, producer, designer, lead programmer
1998	Fallout 2	Designer, additional programming
2001	Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura	Project lead, lead programmer
2003	The Temple of Elemental Evil	Project lead, lead designer
2004	Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines	Programmer
2014	South Park: The Stick of Truth	Programmer
WildStar	Design Director, Programming Director
2015	Pillars of Eternity	Programmer, additional design
2016	Tyranny	Programmer
2019	The Outer Worlds	Director
2025	The Outer Worlds 2	Creative consultant
::

References

References

1. (October 3, 2018). "The History of Fallout". Retro Gamer.
2. Green, Jeff (October 2005). "The Bard's Tale", ''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' (255): 76.
3. "IGN - 85. Tim Cain". Games.ign.com.
4. https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/pbdhsy/comment/hahkhlf/
5. {{YouTube. pzY6sZWpGQQ. Planung einer Fortsetzung
6. "Unmasking the Gamers: Tim Cain – Industry Veteran, Programmer, and Original Creator of Fallout".
7. (June 27, 2010). "Matt Chat 66: Fallout with Tim Cain, Pt. 1". YouTube.
8. (June 7, 2017). "Reboot Develop 2017 - Tim Cain, Obsidian Entertainment / Building a Better RPG: 7 Mistakes to Avoid". YouTube.
9. "Fallout Developers Profile - Tim Cain". No Mutants Allowed.
10. (May 26, 2023). "Why I Left Fallout 2".
11. (July 4, 2010). "Matt Chat 67: Fallout with Tim Cain Pt. 2". YouTube.
12. Tumeo, Antonino. (2000-04-23). "Interview to Tim Cain".
13. (2001-08-21). "Game Credits for Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura".
14. Walker, Trey. (2001-09-06). "Arcanum debuts at number four".
15. (July 11, 2010). "Matt Chat 68: Arcanum and More with Tim Cain". YouTube.
16. (April 2024). "Duck and Cover :: View topic - DAC Interview with Tim Cain".
17. Hoffman, Erin. (December 26, 2006). "The Escapist : The Rise and Fall of Troika".
18. "Carbine Studios Names Tim Cain Design Director". Carbine Studios.
19. (October 12, 2011). "Most Able: Fallout's Tim Cain Joins Obsidian".
20. (October 12, 2011). "Fallout Creator, Troika Co-Founder Tim Cain Joins Obsidian".
21. (September 14, 2012). "The People Behind Fallout And Planescape Are Making My Dream RPG".
22. Hall, Charlie. (December 6, 2018). "Obsidian's new RPG, The Outer Worlds, has echoes of Mass Effect and Fallout: New Vegas".
23. Cain, Timothy. (May 29, 2023). "Frequently Asked Questions". Timothy Cain.
24. Cain, Timothy. (April 30, 2023). "Semi-Retirement". Timothy Cain.
25. Cain, Tim. (5 December 2025). "Cain on Games".
26. Robinson, Andy. (December 5, 2025). "Fallout’s creator has re-joined Xbox’s Obsidian, says ‘you won’t guess’ what he’s working on".
27. "Timothy Cain".
28. "A Conversation with Fallout Creator Tim Cain". YouTube.
29. (June 2, 2023). "Fallout Creator's Coming Out Story Hits Harder This Pride Month".
30. (2018). "Queerness in Play". Springer.
31. Makuch, Eddie. (December 5, 2025). "Fallout Creator Rejoins Obsidian, Has A New Squirrel Friend".
32. Coleman, Jack. (December 5, 2025). "Fallout Creator Announces He's Coming Out Of Retirement".
33. "Will Ooi's Blog - Unmasking the Gamers: Tim Cain – Industry Veteran, Programmer, and Original Creator of Fallout". Gamasutra.
34. ""My First Professional Game"".

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