• News

Gears of War Studio Head Rod Fergusson leaving Coalition for Blizzard

Fergusson will be leaving The Coalition in March and stepping in at Blizzard to help oversee the Diablo franchise. He promises Gears Tactics is good to go in April.

TJ Denzer

February 5, 2020 4:55 PM

1

It seems to be a season of big moves for some of the best voices in gaming. Rod Fergusson has been working on the Gears of War series since the very first game, but it would appear he’s headed out of The Coalition coming soon. In March, it would appear that Fergusson will be joining Blizzard with the intention of helping oversee the Diablo franchise.

Rod Fergusson announced his upcoming exit from The Coalition on February 5, 2020 in a goodbye on his personal Twitter. Fergusson will be working with Coalition up until March 2020 before he heads out for good.

“Leaving is bittersweet,” Fergusson wrote. “I love our Gears family, the fans, and everyone at The Coalition and Xbox.”

Even so, Fergusson seems to be headed for greener pastures. It’s unknown what his exact position at Blizzard will be at this time, but Diablo 4 will no doubt be a great place for Fergusson’s management and direction. Fergusson promises that Gears Tactics is in good hands at The Coalition leading up to its launch date on April 28, 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 (@GearsViking) February 5, 2020

It’s a strange thing to hear Rod Fergusson is leaving the Gears franchise. He’s been working on every single Gears of War project since the very first under Epic Games and even formally directed Gears 5, which was considered by many to be a successful upturn for the series, including Shacknews in our glowing review of the game. It’s cool to know that Gears Tactics is good to go and that Rod is working on a highly prestigious product at Blizzard, but it’s still wild to think of a Gears of War future without him.

Rod Fergusson’s departure from The Coalition marks the second massive shift in major studio players this week, the recent one being Dan Houser’s March 2020 exit from Rockstar Games after over two decades of writing on the Grand Theft Auto franchise and other Rockstar IPs.

Either way, Shacknews wishes Rod Fergusson the best in his efforts at Blizzard. Thanks for all the chainsaw duels.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.