After spending the last five years spearheading the development and release of Diablo IV as its general manager, Rod Fergusson announced on Friday that he would be leaving the company.

“After five years of driving the Diablo franchise forward with four big launches, it’s time for me to step away from Blizzard/Microsoft, sword in hand, and see what’s next. The teams are set up for success, with an exciting slate of releases ahead”.

DIABLO IV IS JUST ONE GAME ON HIS RESUME

His work on Diablo IV has been polarizing, to say the least. However, it’s fair to say he played a significant role in its eventual release.

Some players didn’t like the game’s open-world design. And as someone who spent a ton of time with Diablo 3 on my Switch, I can admit to not fully latching onto Diablo IV. However, it remains a game I would like to revisit and complete.

I came to know of Rod Fergusson as GearsViking. As the executive producer of the Gears of War series, he helped bring it to life. I’ve always considered the first three games among my all-time favorites.

He’s been at the forefront of bringing several games to market, typically ones that struggled in development. He was essentially the 2011-2020 LeBron James in that regard. Put him on the team, and you’ll at least go to the Finals.

Regardless of what people may think of how he handled the Diablo franchise (Immortal was an objective mess), the fact remains that this is a pretty significant departure. Wherever he goes next, it’ll be interesting to see what he works on.

Given that he says the “teams are set up for success”, where the Diablo franchise goes from here will be worth keeping an eye on. I’ll just say that it would be nice to see it hit the Switch 2.