Latest news with #RodFergusson
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
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"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. 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.
Engadget
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Rod Fergusson leaves Blizzard after five years leading Diablo
Rod Fergusson, the general manager of the Diablo franchise for the last five years, is leaving Blizzard. Fergusson announced the move on social media, but didn't say where he's going next. Before joining Blizzard in 2020 to lead Diablo , Fergusson was studio head at The Coalition, where he oversaw Gears of War. "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 wrote in a post on Bluesky . "I'm proud of what we've built and excited for what's ahead for Diablo, and for me." His departure comes after significant layoffs this summer at Microsoft , Blizzard's owner, which affected its gaming division . In a reply to Fergusson's announcement, Xbox head Phil Spencer posted, "You brought strength, hellfire, and vision to one of gaming's most iconic franchises. Playing Diablo IV with you was a blast—thanks for everything you gave to the game and the community."
Daily Mirror
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
6 things in the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap to get excited about
The Diablo 4 2025 roadmap lays out the content on the way this year with both seasonal and permanent additions to the game as well as teasing two crossovers. Season 8 of Diablo has just kicked off, with the Season of Witchcraft giving way to Belial's Return, and players have a good idea of what's in store between now and the start of next year. Activision Blizzard shared the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap at the start of April, and while the developer has stressed that it hasn't shared all of the upcoming content coming to the game this year, the sneak peek was not well received. The general feeling is that there isn't near enough content to keep players coming back, and that's not been helped by the delay of the second expansion. The news was announced before the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap was shared, with Diablo general manager, Rod Fergusson, dropping that bombshell back in February at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas ( via Jason Schreier on Bluesky). Given the original plan for the title was to have annual expansions, and 2025 is being skipped altogether, the barebone content schedule hasn't helped matters. Former president of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Ybarra, has echoed the disgruntled community's sentiments about the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap on Twitter, criticising the way seasonal cycles, the endgame, and the expansions schedule has been handled. That being said, over on Reddit, community manager u/Lyricana_Nightrayne has been trying to mitigate player disappointment by saying that the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap "doesn't encompass everything planned, and we've left space for things the team is still working on", and that the latter part of the roadmap looks sparse "to accommodate for things the team is still working on." So with all of that out of the way, here are 6 things from the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap to get excited about. Diablo 4 2025 roadmap Keyboard and mouse for console Diablo 4 players on PlayStation and Xbox consoles have been clamouring for keyboard and mouse support since launch. And finally, they're getting it in July this year, alongside Season 9 Sins of the Horadrim as a permanent fixture. Which is what you'd expect as having KB&M support for just one season would be an incredibly odd move for Blizzard to make. If you don't already have it covered, swing by our best gaming keyboard guide to upgrade in time for this update. Two new IP collaborations Blizzard is lining up two collabs this year, with the first one going live in Season 8 that spans April through to July, and the second dropping in Season 10, which launches in September. We also know – thanks again to community manager, u/Lyricana_Nightrayne, on Reddit – that these IP collabs will be on theme for the game, so we're not going to see Peely from Fortnite make their debut in Sanctuary, for example. In an interview with Diablo 4 YouTube content creator, Rhykker, game director, Brent Gibson, indicated that the IP will be external (not an Activision Blizzard property) and will fit Diablo's dark fantasy theme, so don't expect "rainbow armour and French fry swords". Blizzard Activision Blizzard has revealed that the first crossover is with Kentaro Miura's iconic manga, Berserk. Landing on Tuesday, May 6, players can bag themselves limited-time cosmetics from the in-game shop as well as by defeating enemies. Kill elite enemies who have a chance to drop Behelits, which you can trade to the Berserk Reliquary (the themed battle pass) for the Hawks Destiny Back trophy, the Skull Knight's Heraldry Mount Armor, the Brand of Sacrifice Marking. There will also be a Twitch Drops campaign for the Diablo 4 x Berserk collab as well as limited-time shop bundles. As for the second IP collab, if we look at new games releasing between September and December, Hell is Us could fit the bill, as could Directive 8020 – although the both lean more into sci-fi. Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is another new entry that sits in that window and checks off the dark fantasy box, but it could just as well be an existing title. And, of course, Xbox first party IP are on the table given Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard. New class This one's a guess as the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap is conveniently engulfed in flames on the right-hand side, but it looks like the 2026 offerings include a new class. Last year's Vessel of Hatred expansion introduced the Spiritborn class, and given that the second expansion is being delayed to next year, it makes perfect sense that it would also include a new, seventh class for players to take for a spin alongside it. If Blizzard has been listening to the community, this might be the long-requested Paladin, which players were hoping would be the first addition to the roster; it got passed over for the Vessel of Hatred as Blizzard was looking to add something new with the Spiritborn which fit the new region, rather than leaning into the nostalgia of previous series entries. In an interview with Windows Central, Fergusson said, "we definitely heard the feedback, we know people are excited about Paladins or Sword and Board gameplay. But we also knew that like again we did a lot of nostalgia in the first five [classes] and so we felt like at least for the first one we have to be able to look beyond nostalgia and start breaking new ground on classes and trying new things." Of course, the Paladin harks back to Diablo 2, so it may be a holy knight type character like Diablo 3's Templar, but ultimately it'll scratch the Paladin itch either way. New expansion Diablo 4's second expansion has been on the cards for a while now, and was initially set to launch in 2025 as part of Blizzard's plan for annual expansions for the game. We got the Vessel of Hatred expansion last year which introduced the new Spiritborn class as well as the new Nahantu region, and narrative content. So what can we expect for part two? More of the same, of course. If we're getting a Paladin or Templar as the new class, we'll also be venturing into a new region, and what's more fitting than the Khanduras region, where Westmarch is situated? Located to the southwest of the capital of Kyovashad, Westmarch is home to the Templar order, as Rhykker points out in his Diablo 4 expansion predictions video. Story wise, the Vessel of Hatred left us with a super-powered Mephisto, and as Rhykker notes out, this guy loves corrupting religious orders so we may see him head west to wreak havoc in Westmarch. It'll also serve as a nice tie-in with the introduction of the holy knight class, in whatever form that takes in the second Diablo 4 expansion. Rhykker also points to the Heir of Perdition Unique Mythic that deals bonus damage to angels and demons that was introduced in Season 6; we can assume that angels are on the way, and that both they and Tyrael will be making an appearance in the second expansion. New mount Again, this is part of the expansion in 2026, but that's on the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap, so take it up with Blizzard. Vessel of Hatred gave us a host of new feline friends to ride around Santuary on, and if we're going to Westmarch, we can guess what kind of mount maybe up next – and this one's for the dog people out there. Hats off to Rhykker again for the info, reminding us that the sigil of Westmarch is a dire wolf, and if we're heading to the region, chances are that's going to be the new mount. Leaderboards and new ranking system Yes, I know – most of the good stuff in the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap is actually coming in 2026; and in this case it's a new ranking system as well as the return of leaderboards. We had leaderboards in Diablo 4 Season 3 in the form of the Gauntlet, which was a weekly challenge dungeon that saw players awarded with a Seal (one of four possible ranks) dependant on their score. It was removed in Season 6, which was also when the Vessel of Hatred expansion dropped with the new Spiritborn class, and leaderboards have been MIA ever since. But they're making a comeback next year, and don't worry, it's going to be more fleshed out than Pit leaderboards, which is something community manager, Adam 'PezRadar' Fletcher, has addressed on the game's subreddit. "It is a bit far away. 100% get that. But a lot of people suggested 'Just throw them on Pits'. But we believe there are some flaws with that. Pit is a nice option because it is part of the core flow of the game for players which was something Gauntlet wasn't. "But it also [doesn't] lead to tons of challenge beyond the end boss fight while even past features in past games like GRs take in the thought of how to bring in mobs and chain specific items. The team is really wanting this to be fairly rock solid while still achieving some of reasons why players say 'Just use Pit'."
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
《暗黑破壞神4》第8賽季可能會延期？系列總監暗示「老朋友」將回歸
Blizzard（暴雪）《暗黑破壞神4》（Diablo 4 ）原先承諾 1 年 1 部資料片，卻在不久前提到第 2 部資料片需要等到 2026 年。然而最近暴雪《暗黑破壞神》系列總監 Rod Fergusson，通過社群更表明連開發中的第 8 賽季都比預期還要久。 相關新聞：暴雪打破《暗黑破壞神4》每年一部資料片承諾，第二部要2026才上線 Rod Fergusson 在個人社群 X（推特）上發文提到，《暗黑破壞神4》第 8 賽季開發時間會比他們最初預期的要多出幾個星期，提到團隊正在努力開發下一個賽季的大型更新，還暗示玩家敬請期待，因為一位「老朋友」將會和大家見面。 目前 Fergusson 的說法並沒有確定第 8 賽季是否會延期，畢竟《暗黑破壞神4》第 7 賽季才剛推出 1 個多月，距離結束也還有一段時間。許多網友也都開始好奇，Fergusson 暗示的「老朋友」到底會是誰：「二代的聖騎士 Marshall Carthus？」、「朋友...迪亞布羅算是老朋友嗎？」、「希望這位老朋友能帶回排行榜」 Hey everyone - In the spirit of serving the game, not the plan, Season 8 will take a couple of weeks longer to bake than we initially anticipated. The team is hard at work on some great updates coming in the next season, so stay tuned. Looking forward to seeing an old "friend". — Rod Fergusson (@RodFergusson) February 27, 2025
