Rod Fergusson, Gears 5 director and head of Microsoft’s The Coalition studio, announced that he is leaving the company to join Blizzard in March. Fergusson says he will be overseeing the Diablo franchise in his new role.“Starting in March, I will join Blizzard to oversee the Diablo franchise,” said Fergusson in a farewell tweet posted on his personal account. “Leaving is bittersweet as I love our Gears family, the fans, and everyone at The Coalition and Xbox.”
Starting in March, I 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. Thank you, it has been an honor and a privilege to work with you all. pic.twitter.com/0FuO3RFYSQ
— Rod Fergusson (@GearsViking) February 5, 2020
Fergusson began working in games in 1996 at Microsoft. IN 2005 he joined Epic Games as part of the development team on Gears of War. He worked in some capacity on every Gears of War game including Microsoft acquired the Gears of War series from Epic and started up The Coalition studio. Fergusson last served as a director on Gears 5.Blizzard recently announced Diablo 4 at BlizzCon 2019. Although because Diablo 4 is already in development, it’s unclear how Fergusson’s arrival might impact the project. IGN has reached out to Blizzard for more info.
You can read IGN’s hands-on preview of Diablo 4 from BlizzCon here, or check out our Gears 5 review for more on Fergusson’s work.
Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.