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If Fallout's co-creator was to work on the series again, there's one key question he'd want answered first

"If you don't have an immediate answer, if you have to go 'Well, I don't know, we may put in a new perk', I'm probably not interested."

Tim Can next to a suit of Fallout's T-51 power armour.
Image credit: Bethesda/Tim Cain

Original Fallout co-creator Tim Cain has discussed the idea of whether he'd be interested in potentially working on the series again, if he were asked to. The developer says his interest in any Fallout project he was pitched would mainly come down to one key element - "What's new about it?"

If you're not aware, Cain has a YouTube channel where he regularly tells development stories from his lengthy career in the games industry - such as recently revealing his role in the events that led to the cancellation of Fallout Van Buren, Interplay's original Fallout 3. He also sometimes responds to questions asked by fans, which is what he was doing this time.

In a video on his channel entitled 'Would I Work On Fallout Again?', Cain discussed exactly that, citing it as his channel's current "most frequently asked question". The answer, in case you're wondering, is a maybe, with a lot depending on the specifics of whatever pitch was made to him, specifically in terms of it offering the developer the chance to do something he hasn't already done in his career to this point.

Having outlined eariler on in the video that a desire for fresh challenges have often been the key to his interest in the various projects he's worked on since he first began really having a say in that - to the point where he wasn't that interested in working on Fallout 2 because it was just a straight-up sequel - Cain said that this would be the big thing he'd be looking for in any new Fallout project.

"The very first question out of my mouth would be 'What's new about it?'," the developer said, "And if you don't have an immediate answer, if you have to go 'Well, I don't know, we may put in a new perk', I'm probably not interested."

"You're not asking me a question about money, you're not ansking me a question about power and authority, you're asking me a personal question, with a personal answer," Cain added, "Which is, would this be something I'd even be interested in doing, because it's different?" Regarding the first of those, he also explained that, while he understandably isn't willing to be paid "peanuts" for his hard work, cash isn't what will initially attract him to want to work on something.

"I've been approached in the last few years, like, over the pandemic, by people wanting me to direct a game for them, with money in their hands, but there was absolutely nothing new in the offer for me," he said, "And they tried to convince me 'Don't you want to make a new IP?', 'Don't you want to be a director again?', and I didn't know what to say, other than 'I've been there, I've done that, nothing you're coming to me with is new."

In other recent Fallout-related news, DLC-sized New Vegas mod Fallout Nuevo Mexico has just been officially confirmed to be "on hold", following a period of radio silence.

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