Fallout 3 Canceled Despite Intense Development Efforts
- Original Fallout 3, codenamed Van Buren, was in development at Black Isle Studios.
- Project was canceled in 2003, leading to the studio's closure.
- Tim Cain provided new insights into its cancellation.
- Interplay couldn't fund more than six months of development.
- Fallout 3 was later released by Bethesda in 2008.
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Original Fallout 3 Was Canceled Because Even Death March Crunch Couldn't Save It, Says Series Creator
Tim Cain sheds new light on the cancellation of the sequel codenamed Van Buren.
By Willa Rowe
Published Thursday 11:45 AM
We may earn a commission from links on this page
A power armor helmet lies in the dirt. Image Bethesda
Years before Bethesda released Fallout 3 in 2008, another version of the game existed.
Codenamed Van Buren, the original Fallout 3 was in development at Black Isle Studios, the developer of Fallout 2 as well as the acclaimed Planescape Torment.
The project was canceled in 2003, leading to the closure of the storied studio.
Despite never seeing the light of day, the game still looms large in the minds of Fallout fans.
Now, series creator Tim Cain has provided fresh insight into the circumstances leading to its cancellation.
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Cain details the cancellation of Van Buren in a YouTube video posted on June 19.
In it, he explains how he may have had a hand in ultimately ending the original Fallout 3.
To begin, the fact that he was involved in Van Buren at all is a fascinating detail given that he left Fallout developer and publisher Interplay in the middle of Fallout 2's development.
However, Cain reveals that in 2003 an Interplay vice president asked him to play a prototype of Van Buren.
The project was already in trouble, with the VP telling Cain he planned on canceling it unless Cain could give him an estimate on development time that would reassure Interplay.
Cain played about two hours of the prototype and asked members of the development team several questions to get a better idea of the state the game was in.
Eventually, Cain was able to determine a time frame.
He told the VP, "I'm convinced in 18 months you could have a really good game shipped," Cain recounts.
The VP's response was to ask if it could be done any faster.
Cain did not recommend it, saying that even with a death march crunch, the game could not be completed in less than a year.
At this point, the VP told him that any answer over six months was going to result in Van Buren being canceled.
Cain jokes that the answer he gave got the game canceled but notes that the game would have been canceled no matter what given the VP's desired timeline.
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Cain explains that Interplay, which had been experiencing financial hardship for years, simply couldn't fund more than six months of development.
Sure enough, Van Buren was canceled, Black Isle was closed, and all of its staff was laid off.
Eventually, a game called Fallout 3 made its way into the hands of gamers thanks to Bethesda, but Van Buren never did.
