Former Gears of War boss becomes former Diablo boss as Rod Fergusson leaves Microsoft a third time, "sword in hand," after 5 years overseeing the ARPG series: "I'm proud of what we've built"

In an ironic twist of gaming history, Rod Fergusson is leaving a position at Microsoft for the third time in his decades-long industry career. He announced via social media today that he's leaving Blizzard after five years of overseeing the Diablo franchise to move onto as-yet-undetailed new pastures.

"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 says on Bluesky. "I'm proud of what we've built and excited for what's ahead for Diablo, and for me."

Those "four big launches" are, presumably, referring to Diablo 2: Resurrected, Diablo Immortal, Diablo 4, and its expansion Vessel of Hatred. Those titles represent quite a rollercoaster for the community's response to the series over the years, but the highs represent a pretty thorough cementing of Diablo as a major franchise after years of dormancy.

Fergusson started his career at Microsoft in 1996, long before "Xbox" was even a twinkle in anybody's eye, but he eventually worked to support games ranging from Microsoft Train Simulator on PC to Xbox launch title Blood Wake. After working with Epic to develop Gears of War, he eventually jumped ship to the latter studio in order to get the third-person shooter ready for launch on Xbox 360.

He then spent seven years at Epic and two years at BioShock developer Irrational Games, but eventually came back to Microsoft in 2014 to lead the Gears of War franchise at the studio that would become known as The Coalition. After the launches of Gears of War 4 and Gears 5, Fergusson then moved on to lead the Diablo franchise at Blizzard – which, through a multi-billion dollar twist of history, would eventually see him rejoining Microsoft once again.

"You brought strength, hellfire, and vision to one of gaming's most iconic franchises," Xbox boss Phil Spencer said in response to Fergusson's departure. "Playing Diablo IV with you was a blast – thanks for everything you gave to the game and the community."

As for the Diablo series itself, apparently we'll see Fergusson's fingerprints for some time to come. The official Diablo account says Fergusson has "set Diablo up for an amazing year forward."

Meanwhile, the Microsoft bloodbath continues 9,000 layoffs later with the death of Contraband, the '70s co-op game from the studio behind open-world hit Just Cause, and it seems Hideo Kojima's OD is the only thing that's safe.