Five years after leaving Gears of War studio The Coalition to take the reins of the Diablo series at Blizzard, Rod Fergusson is calling it a day.
“After five years driving the Diablo franchise with four big launches, it’s time to step away from Blizzard/Microsoft, sword in hand, and see what’s next,” Fergusson wrote on Bluesky. “I’m proud of what we’ve built and excited for what’s ahead for Diablo, and for me.”
Fergusson’s had a long and storied career in the game industry, beginning at Microsoft in the mid 1990s. He served as producer on the original Gears of War and two sequels, made a brief trip to Irrational to help wrap up BioShock Infinite, and then shifted over to The Coalition (then known as Black Tusk Studios) to return to Gears, which had been acquired by Microsoft.
In 2020, he declared it was “time for a new adventure” and made the move to Blizzard to oversee the Diablo series, following the departure of Blizzard co-founders Mike Morhaime and Frank Pearce a year earlier. He had a good run at Blizzard, helping shepherd Diablo 4 to success, but he also suggested that we start referring to Diablo-style ARPGs as “Diablo-likes,” similar to soulslike or roguelike, so I guess it’s pretty much a wash.
(To be fair, it was far from Fergusson’s worst idea ever. In 2019 he copped to trying to cancel Fortnite, while it was still in the concept phase, before leaving Epic. Hey, we all have bad days.)
“When I joined Blizzard five years ago, I had two main goals (besides getting my sword!): to revitalize one of my favorite franchises of all time, and to have a meaningful impact on the company I admired,” Fergusson wrote in a longer farewell message on LinkedIn. “And it is with great pride and gratitude that I can now look back on this period of my career and say that not only did I achieve those goals, but having the privilege of leading this team alongside some of my favorite people in the world and shipping amazing experiences for our players helped me to grow—as a leader, and as a person.
“The Diablo franchise, in its almost 30 years, has never been stronger and more relevant than it is right now, thanks to the hard work of the many passionate and talented Diablo team members over these five years. From the return of a classic in D2R, to the bold leap into mobile with Immortal, to the record-breaking launch of Diablo 4 and its first expansion Vessel of Hatred: each of these games form the foundation upon which the teams will continue to build the franchise’s’ bright future.”
Fergusson has thus far provided no hint as to his post-Blizzard plans, but one theory, put to me by PC Gamer pal Tyler Colp, is that he’s heading back to 2K to help get BioShock 4 back on track, as he did with BioShock Infinite. It sure seems like it could use the help, and the timing is certainly interesting: It was reported last week that 2K Games is dissatisfied with the state of the game, to the point it removed the head of BioShock 4 studio Cloud Chamber and shifted the creative director to a different position.
Whatever it is, it sure sounds like Fergusson has something specific cooking: “As for me, stay tuned, details on my next adventure coming soon!”
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