Silent Hill: Downpour Design Director leaves Vatra Games

Brian Gomez, design director for Vatra Games' upcoming Silent Hill: Downpour, has left the company in order to pursue other opportunities a little closer to home. "When it was announced that Downpour was being delayed to 2012, my family and I came to the decision that I couldn't keep making the commute between Los Angeles and Brno for another 4 to 6 months," Gomez said in a letter to the Silent Hill Historical Society.

Gomez reassured the Silent Hill hopeful that his absence will have no adverse effect on Downpour's development, as it is nearly completed. Gomez also implied creative differences between his vision and Konami's, although he did not cite them as a reason for his departure: "There's a lot of things I still want to do in this genre that Konami simply didn't let me do."

Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, is a solid 6,049.2 miles away from Los Angeles, which is a fairly substantial commute for any family man. Silent Hill: Downpour is still slated for a 2012 release, come rain or shine.

Reader Comments (22)

I can't wait for this game. I enjoyed my time with it in September, and really hope the delay fine tunes it perfectly.

You could move there? All good developers move, families in tow.

@Undulation

You're basing this on what?

Not everyone can afford to simply up and move overseas 6000 miles for one project. Not everyone wants to either.

@Heisenberg I believe he's joking.

@Hank Hill
Well yes.
But to that guys point - anyone working on such a large profile series with so much funding and so much momentum behind it can probably afford to move out.
It's also worth taking into account that this dev is on a large wage, but lives in a country where it goes further.

During one of my gap years I lived in Budapest and was pulling in design and illustration work from all over the world. I swear one site would tide me over for 2 months there.

@Heisenberg Considering this game is conna suck big time.

Nice to see someone who places family over work. I don't even remember the last time I had a real convo with my dad, who works day in and out.

@pluupy
That sucks. Please take into account that he's trying to build a better life for you (if you still live with him), or maybe he just really really likes his job.

You can have your cake and eat it. In this case you can move your family and still work. So many people would be glad to move out into an exciting territory like California.

So why not take your family to Los Angelas with you\? The price argument is invalid in this case. The guy works(ed) for Konami, I'm damn sure he's well enough off to move his family there.

@asslber
This is looking like a solid case.

@asslber He worked for Vatra, not Konami.
He would have to move them to the Czech Republic, not LA.

"come rain or shine."
Oh YOU.

Sounds promising!

Who the hell wants to live in America anyways

@joer22784

You can always take it upon yourself to leave, you won't be missed.

Having travelled and lived all over the globe I can say without hesitation that for all of our outrageous problems and the multitude of them this is still the greatest country in the world.

There are many wonderful experiences out there but nowhere else but the US do you get the combination of diversity, environments and personal freedom as you do here. The biggest issue we've faced over the last 60 years has been the general apathy of the public over the way our government works but in the information age we're seeing that change before our very eyes.

My guess is that you're somewhere between 15 and 22 and haven't been anywhere outside of your hometown except on vacation.

@joer22784

America is fine. As long as it's not some place expensive like NY or CA, or the backwoods of America. Something with a moderate balance.

@BillyBongThornton

Actually, the main reason we have the amount of people streaming across the border that we do today is a simple one:

When NAFTA was implemented by Clinton in the 90's Mexico's farming industry was basically destroyed by the cheap corn coming across the border from the US and into Mexico. Clinton knew this would happen so he militarized the border when NAFTA was implemented.

And sure enough millions of unemployed farm workers started crossing the border for work in much greater numbers than before.

It's easy for those not in the game industry to speculate on his decision. I currently work for a major developer in LA and I signed a lease prior to getting the job. Unlike typical leased I must pay full rent for the duration of my lease if I break it. I commute 160 miles a day for work. Having a family and working mandatory "crunch" definitely puts a strain on any family. Just because games make millions and have big budgets most companies aren't willing to pay for this type of transfer. Unfortunately the employer makes the money the employee is always replaceable. Unfortunate indeed. I completely understand his rock and a hard place scenario.

While you're at it, please bring Akira Yamaoka back. I refuse to play this game without him behind the scenes.

@Harrrr That's a little ridiculous. He left the company. I don't see why you should shun the game because of his decision.

Joystiq, you guys should switch to Disqus to help manage these spammers. Or at least promote well known commenters with some mod abilities so they can help out.

LA to Brno? Damn, and I thought my commute was bad. "Honey, I'm on my way home from work, be home in 24 hours, please have dinner ready, er, tomorrow's dinner"

Silent Hill: Downpour

Silent Hill: Downpour Design Director leaves Vatra Games

Reader Comments (22)

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 6:36PM Arsenic13 said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 6:44PM Undulation said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 7:04PM Heisenberg said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 7:16PM Hank Hill said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 7:31PM Undulation said

Posted: Nov 6th 2011 5:02AM Harrrr said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 7:22PM pluupy said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 7:35PM Undulation said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 7:23PM asslber said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 7:33PM Undulation said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 7:36PM Arsenic13 said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 7:58PM ironraiden said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 8:33PM Dick Socrates said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 9:16PM joer22784 said

Posted: Nov 6th 2011 12:26AM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Nov 6th 2011 12:57AM kentuckyfried said

Posted: Nov 6th 2011 7:21AM Viriathus said

Posted: Nov 5th 2011 9:35PM Agent45 said

Posted: Nov 6th 2011 4:57AM Harrrr said

Posted: Nov 6th 2011 12:29PM Arsenic13 said

Posted: Nov 6th 2011 8:40AM Arsenic13 said

Posted: Nov 6th 2011 1:22PM 343 Guilty Fart said

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