Gears of War studio head Rod Fergusson is going to Blizzard to oversee Diablo
Rod Fergusson, The Coalition studio head, is leaving Gears of War behind to work on Diablo.
This is perhaps Rod Fergusson's most surprising move yet, as the industry veteran has spent the last six years heading up Gears of War custodian, The Coalition, at Microsoft.
Beginning in March, Fergusson will join Blizzard to "oversee the Diablo franchise." "Leaving is bittersweet as I love our Gears family, the fans, and everyone at The Coalition and Xbox," he said in a goodbye tweet.
"Leaving is bittersweet as I love our Gears family, the fans, and everyone at The Coalition and Xbox."
Fergusson has a storied history in leading teams to the finish line. Apart from having worked on every mainline Gears of War game, Fergusson has earned a reputation of being a "closer", often arriving late in a game's production to help its developers ship.
In late 2012, he joined Bioshock Infinite maker Irrational Games, and left shortly after the game shipped. Infinite had spent months in troubled development.
Blizzard has two announced Diablo games in development. Diablo 4, and the mobile spin-off Diablo Immortal.