Ahead of their appearance at this year’s Inspirefest, Brenda and John Romero of Romero Games talk about why they moved their entire life to Galway, as well as reminisce about cult classic Doom.

It hasn’t taken long for Brenda and John Romero of Romero Games to get settled into life in the heart of Galway, having taken the decision to pick themselves up, along with their entire operation, and move to Ireland from the US.

The pair has a long tradition in the gaming industry as game designers across various platforms, with perhaps the most famous being John’s role as one of the designers of the 1993 cult classic, Doom.

In fact, despite it being 23 years since the game first made its debut, John announced this year that he had developed an entirely new level of the game for people to download and play as his own personal tribute to it.

Gaming scene in Galway

Nowadays, he finds himself in a rather different world in Galway with his partner Brenda, who formed the gaming start-up Romero Games in 2015 and, speaking to Siliconrepublic.com, the pair said they are still adjusting to the Irish gaming scene.

“[Galway is] just very different from where we were at before,” said John. “It was very rare to be around other game companies, especially around what they’re making and just hang out, showing each other our games.”

Diversity, too, has been pretty important for both Brenda and John and, speaking ahead of their talk at Inspirefest 2016, Brenda said that, from their perspective, progress is being made, at least in the gaming sector.

Inspirefest is Silicon Republic’s international event connecting sci-tech professionals passionate about the future of STEM. Join us again from 30 June to 2 July 2016 for fresh perspectives on leadership, innovation and diversity. Book your tickets now.