Game designer Tim Cain explained a little more about the circumstances under which Fallout Van Buren was cancelled. The game could have been released if it had taken no more than six months to finalize it.
As Tim Cain explained, in 2003, when he was already working at Troika Games, which he founded, the vice president of Interplay invited him to check the current build of Fallout Van Buren. After a couple of hours of checking the build, the game designer was asked how long it would take to finalize the project. Tim Kane answered honestly that about 18 months. He admitted that the game could be completed in 12 months, but then the technical condition would be terrible.
The developer's verdict was decisive for Interplay, and Fallout Van Buren was cancelled.
Some of you will say that I have to find the villain in this story... Many will point to the Vice President, to which I will answer: where would he get the money to pay for the work? Interplay was not doing very well at that time... I think that Troika Games' financial condition was much better then, and you know how its story ended. Some will say that it is my fault, that I should have lied. But the game would still have been cancelled.
According to Tim Cain, the company could not afford a development period longer than six months. His own conclusion about the required time only confirmed the publisher's fears, after which Van Buren was closed. Many developments from the canceled game later became the basis for Fallout: New Vegas.
Earlier it became known that the development of a major story mod for Fallout: New Vegas was on the verge of failure.