People News Tim Cain launches a YouTube channel, confirms he's been semi-retired since June 2020

[Infinitron]

Tags: Tim Cain

We haven't seen much of Tim Cain in recent years, other than a couple of interviews when the The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition was announced. Yet last week, he quietly launched a new YouTube channel called "Cain On Games" where he apparently intends to answer questions from fans on a regular basis. He's already recorded videos about Fallout, the unmade Arcanum sequel Journey to the Center of Arcanum, and the Lords of the Rings RPG pitched by Troika when it was turned down. Now, you might be wondering how he has time to do this. As has been rumored for some time, Tim has been "semi-retired" for almost three years now, having left Obsidian in June 2020, though he still does contract work for them and two other studios as well. I'll post the video about that along with the channel introduction.

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This seems like it's going to be pretty great. Hat tip to user Goral for spotting the channel first.

 

[Jrpgfan]

I guess Outer Worlds was his "retirement project", the same way an old, washed up former boxing champion retires after getting ktfo by some unknown bum.

That game was like the fight to see if he could still keep going but made him realize it's time to hang up the gloves.

 

[Infinitron]

As far as I can tell, Tim was quite pleased with how The Outer Worlds turned out. His partner Leonard Boyarsky, who is still full-time at Obsidian, is the one who was more ambivalent about it.

They are both quite old to be working in the gaming industry. They're older than Feargus Urquhart. So a retirement isn't that surprising.

 

[BlackheartXIII]

Cain complained about his treatment at Obsidian and criticized the narrative team's self deprecating humor during his The House of Dev interview.

 

[agris]

His partner Leonard Boyarsky

They’re lovers?

 

[Tweed]

His partner Leonard Boyarsky

They’re lovers?

RPGs drive men to devious lifestyles.

 

[Urthor]

The Outer Worlds wasn't great... it was pretty close though.
Tweak the gunplay to be less Borderlands-ey big numbers, add in some more hand crafted quests rather than by the number RNG locations. It gets there.

 

[Correct_Carlo]

His partner Leonard Boyarsky

They’re lovers?

No. Last I heard Tim Cain was married to a guy like 20 years younger than him. It'd be a bit weird if he divorced and married Boyarsky, as they have been game development partners since 1992 without hooking up. But I don't know.

 

[MrBuzzKill]

Good. This guy put out more god-tier projects than a lot of people in the industry could ever hope to achieve, so I'm interested in hearing what he has to say. Btw, his GDC Fallout post-mortem is very good too.

 

[Immortal]

"I'm contracting for Obsdian.. and a second company.. both paid.. then a third company I'm contracting for.. but that one is for free because they have such an amazing game that I love and I just wanted to be a part of it"

Got it.. so the Obshitian game(s) aren't ones he loves and believes in - they have to pay.. lmfao

 

[Morality Games]

"I'm contracting for Obsdian.. and a second company.. both paid.. then a third company I'm contracting for.. but that one is for free because they have such an amazing game that I love and I just wanted to be a part of it"

Got it.. so the Obshitian game(s) aren't ones he loves and believes in - they have to pay.. lmfao

That Obsidian can pay Microsoft money is also an explanation. It's normal to do work gratas if you have the spare time and skills and deserving groups and individuals can't otherwise afford it.

... not that I think Obsidain Entertainment is in great shape.

 

[ScrotumBroth]

It's nice to see a veteran who somehow managed to stay cheerful and fun in their old age.

 

[luj1]

I guess Outer Worlds was his "retirement project", the same way an old, washed up former boxing champion retires after getting ktfo by some unknown bum.

That game was like the fight to see if he could still keep going but made him realize it's time to hang up the gloves.

p4p best analogy

 

[KIss My Ass]

Somebody ask him how he feels about Dark Souls. The true test of every man.

 

[Konjad]

The Outer Worlds wasn't great... it was pretty close though.
Tweak the gunplay to be less Borderlands-ey big numbers, add in some more hand crafted quests rather than by the number RNG locations. It gets there.

I guess in could compete with Fallout 3.

Spoiler

Which game was more stupid

 

[luj1]

As far as I can tell, Tim was quite pleased with how The Outer Worlds turned out.

No one else was. It's a trash game.

 

[Ryzer]

As far as I can tell, Tim was quite pleased with how The Outer Worlds turned out.

No one else was. It's a trash game.

Steam:
Very Positive (84% of 19,808) ALL TIME
Very Positive (82% of 141) RECENT

 

[luj1]

Instant classic lol

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I never played dark souls so i have no opinion on that. Meh i guess.

 

[mindx2]

Would be nice if he showed up here every once-in-a-while since he's "retired" and little need to worry about the Twitter-mafia (and old enough to not give a fig). Also, would love to badger pester beg kindly ask TimCain if he has any more Trioka items lying around needing a good home.

 

[Immortal]

"I'm contracting for Obsdian.. and a second company.. both paid.. then a third company I'm contracting for.. but that one is for free because they have such an amazing game that I love and I just wanted to be a part of it"

Got it.. so the Obshitian game(s) aren't ones he loves and believes in - they have to pay.. lmfao

That Obsidian can pay Microsoft money is also an explanation. It's normal to do work gratas if you have the spare time and skills and deserving groups and individuals can't otherwise afford it.

He states the game he's working on for free is very large and well known and that anyone watching his video would know it's name...

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say this company isn't 2 scrappy indie's making their first game with a shoe string budget and could probably afford Tim Cain's 12 hour a week contractor rate if they really wanted him.

EDIT:
I'll even go so far as to say - he probably reached out to them and offered to do it for free because he's actually passionate about it after playing it.

 

[Roguey]

He states the game he's working on for free is very large and well known and that anyone watching his video would know it's name...

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say this company isn't 2 scrappy indie's making their first game with a shoe string budget and could probably afford Tim Cain's 12 hour a week contractor rate if they really wanted him.

EDIT:
I'll even go so far as to say - he probably reached out to them and offered to do it for free because he's actually passionate about it after playing it.

Bethesda letting Tim work on Starfield after they told Chris to take a hike when he wanted to work on Fallout for them would be very funny.

(though that's probably not it; I vaguely recall a comment where Tim mentioned Bethesda didn't want him working on Fallout either)

 

[darkpatriot]

He states the game he's working on for free is very large and well known and that anyone watching his video would know it's name...

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say this company isn't 2 scrappy indie's making their first game with a shoe string budget and could probably afford Tim Cain's 12 hour a week contractor rate if they really wanted him.

EDIT:
I'll even go so far as to say - he probably reached out to them and offered to do it for free because he's actually passionate about it after playing it.

Bethesda letting Tim work on Starfield after they told Chris to take a hike when he wanted to work on Fallout for them would be very funny.

(though that's probably not it; I vaguely recall a comment where Tim mentioned Bethesda didn't want him working on Fallout either)

Tim Cain being contracted to work on Elder Scrolls VII would be a fantastic twist.


I would also note that circumstances, opinions, and even the people in certain decision making positions change over time. So events from years ago may no longer accurately reflect the current situation.

 

[Tyranicon]

It's nice to see a veteran who somehow managed to stay cheerful and fun in their old age.

Yeah, good for him. I hope he stays semi-retired. Having to work in the current games industry seems painful.

Imagine having to compromise your values and beliefs to make games for zoomers.

 

[Urthor]

The Outer Worlds wasn't great... it was pretty close though.
Tweak the gunplay to be less Borderlands-ey big numbers, add in some more hand crafted quests rather than by the number RNG locations. It gets there.

I guess in could compete with Fallout 3.

Spoiler

Which game was more stupid

I think it's 60% to 70% of the way to Prey. Aka, "the Deus Ex genre."

Prey's one of my favourite games of all time. Arkane's action games are a blast. I acknowledge most of RPG Codex has a gigantic hard-on for turn based + RTWP gameplay loops/grid based tactical, rather than Deus Ex style action rpgs. I just like both genres.

I've played RPGs for 20+ years (unfortunately, in many ways).

Games that have really inspired me are Prey, Disco Elysium, Baldur's Gate, Nehrim/Enderal/The Lost Spires, The Endless Mod. Troubleshooter Abandoned Children, Fall From Heaven 2, FF6 + Chrono Trigger + Zelda A Link to the Past, Elden Ring, Faster Than Light. Multiple genres, what I see in them is each game was best in class at writing + character sheet mechanics + excellent, snappy gameplay loop.

The Deus Ex formula is just really really excellent.

 

[Daemongar]

Thanks for linking this Infinitron - I'm watching all of them and they are on point and very interesting.

Edit: Also, I'm going back and listening to the soundtrack of Fallout 1 - damn, it's good.