Say it ain’t so, but it is, as Rod Fergusson from Microsoft Studio’s The Coalition team has announced he is departing the company.
In a recent tweet, Fergusson has announced that he’ll be moving on from the studio that continued the Gears of War series and will be heading to Blizzard. There he’ll be overseeing the Diablo franchise and hopefully giving it a much-needed boost. That’s a huge get for Blizzard, for sure.
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
With this move, this marks the second person to leave the Microsoft/Xbox camp and make the move to Activision/Blizzard, as former Xbox VP Mike Ybarra also made the move to Blizzard towards the end of 2019.
While I hate to see Rod leave The Coalition, as he was instrumental in the growth of the Gears of War series. However, he has assured us that the series is in good hands. At the same time, I’m excited to see what he does with the Diablo brand. With him at the wheel, here’s to hoping that Diablo gets all the shine it needs. Especially with both Diablo: Immortal being heavily criticized, while Diablo 4 looks to be one of Blizzard’s most important titles in history.
If there is something Blizzard needs, it’s good leadership, as most of the supporting cast has departed the company. With Rob Fergusson, they picked up a nice amount of leadership. I can’t wait to see what becomes of this.
