Tim Cain: “We Worked Long Hours on Fallout Out of Passion, Not Crunch”

Tim Cain, one of the minds behind Fallout, reminisced about his typical day during the development of the original game at Interplay Entertainment, revealing that he often clocked in over 70 hours a week purely out of passion for the project.

In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Cain shared that his day usually started around 6 AM, where he would first tend to his demanding cat before heading to the office between 7 and 8 AM. He often brought along cinnamon bread he had baked the night before, which his colleagues would eagerly devour. He even left the recipe in the comments for anyone interested.

Lunch breaks were spent at home, partly to play with his cat and also because he was living paycheck to paycheck, making home-cooked meals a more economical choice. After lunch, he would dive back into work, often wrapping up a 12-hour shift before heading home to jot down notes about the day’s progress—something he credits as a key reason for his YouTube channel’s existence.

“I often drove to work in the dark and drove home in the dark,” he recalled. On Saturdays, he would work slightly shorter hours, joined by fellow developers who were just as eager to play more Fallout, which he found encouraging.

However, as the development of Fallout neared its conclusion, Cain found himself in a grueling routine of 12-hour days, seven days a week. “I would frequently be shopping at two or three in the morning, to the point where some of the people there would recognize me,” he said. “So that’s what a typical day was like making Fallout.”

Cain’s eyes light up as he reflects on those early days at Interplay, emphasizing that he willingly put in the extra hours. He acknowledged that some might view this as crunch or exploitation, but he reassured fans that no one was forcing them to work those hours. “We wanted to do it, we loved what we were doing, and we loved what we were making. I hope some of you understand that, and more so, I hope some of you get to experience, at some point, making something that you love so much, that you devote time to it because you love it, not because you’re being made to.”

While Cain expressed his disapproval of the crunch culture prevalent in today’s game development, he also reflected on the incredible experience it was, despite its unsustainable nature.

Now, it seems like a good time to whip up some cinnamon bread.