Fallout co-creator Tim Cain is certainly not planning to produce sequels for his collection of early 2000s RPGs — including Arcanum and The Temple of Elemental Evil — due to the fact that they were cherished by a dedicated and enthusiastic group of gamers. In simpler terms, they did not generate significant revenue.
“People frequently ask me, ‘Why don’t you create another game like Bloodlines,’ or, ‘Why don’t you design a sequel to Arcanum?'” Cain shared with PC Gamer in a recent interview. “They say, ‘You created a cult classic.’ And I respond, ‘The issue is the cult part.'”
“I dislike saying it so mechanically,” he added, “but sometimes gamers need to back up their words with their wallets. If they dislike a game, they shouldn’t purchase it. If they enjoy a game, they should buy it, and that way they’ll receive more of what they desire.”
Regardless of the immense success of the Fallout franchise, Cain has often faced disappointing sales throughout his career. Most notably, he had to close Troika Games, his RPG development studio, in 2005 due to a lack of sufficient publisher support. At the time, co-founder Leonard Boyarsky expressed to the now-defunct site GameSpy that “people are looking for games that cater to a more mainstream audience than ours typically does.”
“In straightforward terms,” he continued, “our titles simply didn’t sell enough copies.” Even though two decades have passed since Boyarsky made these comments, Cain clearly still resonates with the sentiment.
“If a game launches and sells a million copies,” Cain told PC Gamer, “it’s likely to get a sequel. If a game releases and sells 50,000 copies, it’s not going to get a sequel.”
Nonetheless, there is exciting hope in a cult classic, too. In a latest YouTube video, Cain urged viewers not to forget Troika’s 2003 D&D game The Temple of Elemental Evil, to which one commenter assured that “it hasn’t been overlooked.”