Timothy Cain

Early Life

Timothy Cain's first involvement in the game industry was at Pegasus Software (later Cybron) when he was 16. He continued to work for the company, which produced computer games played through a cable TV network, until he graduated and moved to California for graduate studies in computer science at University of California at Irvine. The games he worked at Cybron included Grand Slam Bridge published by EA, but he was never credited.

Cain hoped to attain Ph.D. in computer science and become a professor, but after being disillusioned with academia he opted to enter the gaming industry,

Interplay

During the early parts of his career, Cain spent six years at Interplay. He joined the company in 1991 as a contractor making Bard's Tale Construction Set and the next year he was hired on a full time basis as employee number 42. His early work included Stonekeep, M.A.X: Mechanised Assault and Exploration, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Atomic Bomberman. It wasn't until 1997 that he, along with Leonard Boyarsky and Jason Anderson, would make his mark on the industry with the release of the cult classic RPG Fallout. A critically acclaimed game at the time of its release and still popular to this day, Cain is often cited as the mastermind behind the game.

Troika Games

In 1998 Cain, Boyarsky and Anderson left Interplay due to issues with how their next team should be structured; the trio later formed Troika Games. Troika's first release, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, was a mild success both critically and commercially when it was released in 2001 with critics citing the large number of bugs and glitches as a major downfall of the title.

Their next effort was Temple of Elemental Evil (2003), a title which moved away from their traditional RPG roots in favour of a strong dungeon crawler experience. Much like Arcanum before it, ToEE failed to garner large success.

In 2004, Troika released arguably their greatest game; Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. Utilising Valve's Source engine, Bloodlines was set in White Wolf's universe. While it was met with a positive reception from critics and gamers alike, Bloodlines performed poorly from a sales perspective. A few months later Troika ran into financial trouble and was forced to close.

Current Status

Timothy left Carbine Studios in 2011 and is currently working full-time at Obsidian Entertainment.

Personal Facts

Timothy Cain is color blind.