Gears Boss Rod Fergusson Leaving Xbox to Join Blizzard and Oversee the Diablo Franchise

Today The Coalition studio head Rod Fergusson announced that he is leaving Xbox, with his next destination being Blizzard.

Giuseppe Nelva

Published: Feb 5, 2020 06:34 pm

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Today The Coalition studio head Rod Fergusson announced that he is leaving Xbox, with his next destination being Blizzard.

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The announcement was made on Twitter, as you can see below.

At his new workplace, Fergusson will oversee the Diablo franchise.

I began working on Gears of War over 15 years ago and since then, it has been the joy of my life. But now it’s time for a new adventure. I leave Gears in the great hands of The Coalition and can’t wait for everyone to play Gears Tactics on April 28. pic.twitter.com/Az5w0B631i
— Rod Fergusson (@RodFergusson) February 5, 2020

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 (@RodFergusson) February 5, 2020

Fergusson debuted at Microsoft in 1996, where he worked on some of the early games for the company, including Microsoft Train Simulator.

His love affair with Gears of War started after moving to Epic Games in 2005. He then continued working on the series until he left for Irrational games in 2012.

In 2014, Microsoft acquired the Gears of War series from Epic Games, and Fergusson rejoined the Xbox team to take the helm of The Coalition, that has worked on Gears of War 4 and Gears 5 since.

Xbox division head Phil Spencer had kind words to share in response to the news of Fergusson’s departure, thanking him for his passion and effort.

Thank you @gearsviking for the passion and effort you’ve brought to Gears and Xbox and the work you’ve done to build the world class team at @CoalitionGears Best of luck on your next journey.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 5, 2020

If you’d like to read more about Fergusson’s latest labor of love, you can read our review of Gears 5.

He will likely work on Diablo IV, that has recently been revealed by Blizzard.

The game has been announced for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, but it doesn’t have a release window just yet.

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Author

Giuseppe Nelva

Proud weeb hailing from sunny (not as much as people think) Italy and long-standing gamer since the age of Mattel Intellivision and Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Definitely a multi-platform gamer, he still holds the old dear PC nearest to his heart, while not disregarding any console on the market. RPGs (of any nationality), MMORPGs, and visual novels are his daily bread, but he enjoys almost every other genre, prominently racing simulators, action and sandbox games. He is also one of the few surviving fans on Earth of the flight simulator genre.