Abstract
Problem: Why didn't Tim Cain start another studio after Troika Games closed, and what made running a business so unappealing?
Approach: Tim answers a viewer's multi-part question by breaking his experience into three categories: financial rewards, workload, and hard lessons learned about people.
Findings: Running Troika was financially unrewarding, consumed time he wanted to spend making games, and exposed him to dishonest behavior from both publishers and employees that he had no power to fix.
Key insight: Tim's passion was always game development, not business — and the cumulative weight of low pay, thankless administrative work, dishonest publishers, and disloyal employees made him never want to run a company again.
Not Financially Rewarding
Troika's first year was filled with unexpected business expenses. Tim, Leonard Boyarsky, and Jason Anderson paid themselves roughly half of what they expected — possibly as low as 50% of a normal salary. None of the three founders were doing well financially. Tim had to refinance his house just a few years after buying it, resetting his 30-year mortgage to lower monthly payments because he wasn't bringing in enough money. He calls it "financially a dumb decision" but says he had no choice.
After the first year things improved slightly, but Troika had a flat pay scale — everyone got paid the same amount. When Arcanum royalties came in, they split over half evenly among all employees who worked on the game, keeping the rest as a buffer for the next project. They made money, but not much.
Beyond the financial aspect, Tim's goal was never to be a manager or run a business. It wasn't his passion. Having to deal with business problems every day was demoralizing.
A Full-Time Job on Top of Game Development
Running a business is like a second full-time job. Most people Tim knows who start companies do only that — they manage day-to-day operations and don't do development. At Troika, Tim had to do both.
Accounting and HR
Tim had taken an accounting class and done well, but never wanted to be an accountant. Yet there he was with QuickBooks managing Troika's daily books. He also became head of HR for the last couple years of Troika — handling all paperwork for hiring, firing, and state compliance.
Contract Negotiations
Tim handled contract negotiations for Temple of Elemental Evil (Leonard did Arcanum and Vampire). Negotiating contracts and then enforcing them — hitting schedules, meeting deliverables, fielding calls from the publisher multiple times a week — consumed hours that would otherwise go to game development. Even after Temple shipped and Tim moved to Vampire, he couldn't dedicate 100% of his day to the game.
Hard Lessons About People
Dishonest Publishers
Some publishers lied and manipulated Troika. Tim frequently heard phrases like "Don't you want the game to be good?" — used to pressure him into adding features beyond what was contracted, while they held him strictly to every promise he'd made.
One publisher was contractually obligated to pay royalties based on gross revenue. After shipping, they unilaterally redefined "gross" to include cost of goods and started deducting those from royalties.
Another publisher was supposed to pay within 10 business days of approving a milestone. They routinely paid after 30 days. Once they waited 90 business days — over three months.
When Tim tried to enforce the contracts, both publishers essentially said: "What are you going to do, sue us?" They had far deeper pockets and could drag things out in court until even winning would be a loss. And suing a publisher meant no other publisher would work with you either. Tim calls it "a political game I don't want to play."
Dishonest Employees
Tim witnessed the same manipulation pattern twice — once at Interplay (as an observer) and once at Troika (as the victim). An employee threatened to leave, agreed to stay and finish a project in exchange for a raise, then quit anyway. They used the raise on their pay stub to negotiate a better offer at their new employer. When Tim confronted the Troika employee, the person said: "I could have had my new employer mad or you mad. I choose you."
Employees also stole office supplies and cases of soda from the open supply rack, costing the small company thousands of extra dollars per month. The worst incident: an employee used Troika's phones at night to make international calls while job hunting. By the time the phone bill arrived, the person had already left — sticking Troika with an extra $1,500+ bill that cut into office lunches and supplies.
Shutting Down Troika
When Troika couldn't find another publishing deal they liked, Tim was "kind of okay" with letting the company wind down. They had enough money to give everyone severance and insurance and pay off all debts.
Tim spent months on the shutdown paperwork. Troika closed its doors in February 2005 but wasn't officially dissolved until September 2005. He notes that shutting down a company is far harder than starting one. Some rules didn't even make sense — he had to pay insurance until the company closed, but couldn't close until all bank accounts were shut. When the insurance was refunded, it went to the closed accounts and the insurance company simply kept the money.
Just Let Me Make Games
Tim learned a lot from failure — but not how to fix the problems. He just learned they existed, and the knowledge left him feeling bitter. After Troika, he went to Carbine Studios as programming director on a well-funded MMO, choosing to focus purely on game development. His conclusion is simple: "I don't want to make another company. I just don't want to run one."
References
- Tim Cain. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqB9vLXBLIo