Creator of Fallout was forced to destroy original game files and studio later lost everything

The story of Fallout, one of the most influential RPGs in the history of video games, could be even richer if it weren't for a controversial decision made almost three decades ago. In a recent video published on his YouTube channel, Tim Cain, the franchise creator, revealed that he was forced to destroy all the original files of the first Fallout when he left Interplay Entertainment, the studio responsible for the game's release in 1997.

“When I left Fallout, they told me ‘you have to destroy everything you have,’ and I destroyed it. My entire file. Initial design notes, codes from different versions, prototypes, all the GRUPS code - all lost,” said Cain. He left the studio after disagreeing with the influence of external executives in the development of Fallout 2, still in its early stages.

The most ironic part? Years later, Interplay themselves contacted him saying that they had lost all the related material to the game. “I thought it was a trap, that they would sue me if I had kept anything, but no... they really had lost everything and wanted to know if I had any copies,” commented the developer.

In addition to design documents, source codes, and builds, Cain claims that even physical materials like clay figurines, used to create the characters' faces, were destroyed by the studio's order. Although the game files themselves were later rescued and are now available on platforms like GOG, all the creative process, original concepts, and preliminary versions were permanently erased.

Tim Cain's statement reinforces a constant criticism within the industry: the negligence of big companies towards the historical preservation of games. In the video, he directly accuses “individuals and organizations” of acting against preservation, treating games only as disposable products.

Today, initiatives like the Video Game History Foundation and the catalog of classic games from GOG.com try to fill this gap. But the irreparable loss of documents like those from Fallout (1997) shows how vulnerable the memory of the gaming industry still is - even when we talk about titles that defined generations.