Fallout co‑creator leaves retirement to rejoin Xbox's Obsidian Entertainment, fueling speculation about future games — "Don't bother guessing, you're not gonna guess right"
Obsidian Entertainment has brought Tim Cain out of retirement in 2025, a major move that could shape the studio’s next big RPG projects.
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Game designer Tim Cain is leaving his semi-retirement to rejoin Xbox Game Studios' role-playing game developer Obsidian Entertainment. Cain shared the news on Friday, revealing via his YouTube channel that he's already been back for a short while.
Cain is now working on a new project that hasn't been announced yet, preempting speculation by noting, "Don't bother guessing, you're not gonna guess right."
He adds that he'll be continuing to run his personal channel for as long as he still has stories to share of fun tidbits and game development insights from across his career. You can find Cain's full video and update on the changes below:
Cain has worked on numerous games across the years, including the original Fallout and Fallout 2 at Interplay. After leaving Interplay, he co-founded Troika Games to develop cult classic titles like Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura, as well as Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.
He then joined Obsidian Entertainment for the first time in 2011, where he worked on Pillars of Eternity and co-directed The Outer Worlds.
In June 2020, Cain left the studio and entered quasi-retirement, though he still worked with Obsidian as a contractor on The Outer Worlds 2, which launched back in October 2025.
So...what could he be working on?
I genuinely admire Cain's attempt to stop speculation of just what his next project could be, but obviously, I'll speculate anyway.
I know most people will immediately jump to thinking of Fallout for understandable reasons, but I'm inclined to think it's something entirely new. The real question is just what could be so exciting to get Cain to un-retire and rejoin the studio?
No matter what it is, I'm excited to learn more eventually. Cain's work spans numerous sub-genres of role-playing games, and has helped shape so many iconic titles.
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Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Bluesky @samueltolbert.bsky.social.
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