Tim Cain, a co-creator of Fallout, recently released a new video that delivered some grim news for fan theorists. According to Cain, the official intellectual property owners ultimately decide what constitutes video game canon. Consequently, while developers themselves possess limited influence on a game’s story, fan opinions receive a similar dismissal. So, where does this leave the passionate debates that keep franchises alive?
Prepare for a Lore-pocalypse, Theorists
The Fallout developer argued that players’ inability to reach a true consensus explains why they cannot define canon. Furthermore, he explains that this could lead to a single game containing millions of individual canons. Moreover, he acknowledges that people might find this idea wonderful for their personal truth.
However, he questions its practical value for a cohesive story. Additionally, he addressed the issue by focusing on the players themselves. How can anyone be sure a majority of players believe something, rather than just the loudest, most frequent, and sometimes most entitled voices online? Furthermore, Cain reveals a surprising twist to this debate that even a developer’s original intent does not automatically become canon.
The Death of a Thousand Headcanons
Cain admits that the official canon and player interpretation of any game is often aligned with the developer’s intention. Unfortunately, he stresses that this alignment is not a requirement to make accurate fan theories. For instance, a current owner of the Fallout IP that declares the character Harold is a ghoul makes the character an official ghoul, regardless of what the original creators intended.
Fortunately, the original development team itself isn’t the final arbiter of truth. By proclaiming “I’m not canon,” Cain highlights the correlation between their original ideas and the established canon is not perfect. In reality, the IP owners have sole authority over a story’s canon, not the developers or the fanbase.
A hard truth for Fallout fans
With this centralized control, a single and official narrative for a franchise is established, and prevents a chaotic multitude of conflicting truths. Sadly, some dedicated fans and even the original creators may be left disappointed with this concept, but it maintains a consistent storyline. Ultimately, its corporate guardians are the only ones to have the power to define the world of Fallout.
