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Rod Fergusson, Gears of War, Xbox, The Coalition, Blizzard

Gears of War Lead Rod Fergusson Leaving to Oversee Diablo at Blizzard

This article is over 4 years old and may contain outdated information

Gears of War lead and The Coalition studio head Rod Fergusson is leaving to join Blizzard Entertainment. Just before Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox plans come into full view, Fergusson has sent out a heartfelt goodbye to his Gears of War family, saying that, “it’s time for a new adventure.” He is joining Blizzard to oversee the Diablo franchise. Fergusson says he will step into his new position in March after starting work on Gears 15 years ago.

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It seems there isn’t any bad blood between Fergusson and publisher Microsoft, as moments after the news broke, Xbox head Phil Spencer replied with well-wishes.

The Coalition launched Gears 5 in September of 2019 and is currently working on Gears Tactics. Fergusson was a key member of the team that first brought the Microsoft franchise to life when it debuted in 2006 from Epic Games and has been involved with every entry in the series since. Fergusson joined Epic Games in 2005 and stayed with the then-Gears developer until moving over to the now-closed Irrational Games in 2012. Following a year-stint there, he worked at Black Tusk as a studio manager and then concurrently with The Coalition as studio head.

Blizzard is currently in the middle of developing the highly anticipated Diablo IV, which was revealed at BlizzCon late last year.


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Michael Cripe
Michael joined The Escapist team in 2019 but has been covering games, movies, TV, and music since 2015. When he’s not writing, Michael is probably playing Super Mario Sunshine, Dead Space, The Binding of Isaac, or Doom Eternal. You can follow his news coverage and reviews at The Escapist, but his work has appeared on other sites like OnlySP, Gameranx, and Kansas City’s The Pitch, too. If you’d like to connect and talk about the latest pop-culture news, you can follow Michael on Twitter (@MikeCripe), Instagram (mike_cripe), or LinkedIn if that’s your thing.