Why Blizzard Entertainment Hiring The Gears Of War Boss Means Finishing Diablo 4

There’s no denying that the last couple of years have been less than great for Blizzard. Between PR disasters like the Hearthstone debacle – in which a pro player got suspended for expressing his support for Hong Kong on stream – and skepticism towards the future of franchises like Warcraft and Diablo, pundits generally agree that its future feels uncertain.

One of the top game industry news items this week is the word that veteran producer Rod Fergusson would be joining Blizzard, necessitating a sudden departure from The Coalition, the studio where he oversaw the Gears of War franchise. Typically, such horizontal movement across companies isn’t worthy of note to most gamers. Publishers and developers swap executives and managers all the time.

The move from Sera to Sanctuary

Fergusson will presumably be packing up his bags in Vancouver, where The Coalition is based, if he is going to relocate closer to Blizzard’s headquarters in Irvine. There he’ll be taking over the Diablo franchise. It’s generally well known that to hire Fergusson is to get things done – to fix projects, lock code and bring products across the finish line.

Personally, as an unapologetic fan of the Gears of War franchise, I feel a tiny bit of concern over where the Coalition will go. The head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, will presumably provide top level leadership for as long as the studio needs to secure a replacement. But what Fergusson’s new posting implies is evidence of an alignment shift in Blizzard’s priorities.

In the past, Blizzard acquired fame and notoriety for allowing projects to spend long periods of time gestating, before emerging fully formed with top-notch polish. Blizzard’s ascent into the industry stratosphere rode on the wings of a culture of “when it’s done,” back in an era of hex, bugs and rock and roll. It’s a development track that made Blizzard a beloved company, but one that’s on its way out.

In today’s bean counting, projection-based industry, it’s an approach that’s seen as risky and induces worry among shareholders. Moreso when recent history has been filled with setbacks. Heroes of the Storm, the much hyped take on MOBAs previously known as Blizzard All-Stars has been decelerated. The Battle for Azeroth expansion to WOW was less than well received.

More critically, the 2018 announcement of Diablo: Immortal, a mobile spin-off of the Diablo franchise was greeted with a cold, if not hostile, reception. Confusion abounds over Overwatch 2, a sequel that’s marketed as cross-compatible with the original 2016 hero shooter. And Warcraft 3: Reforged, a remaster of the real-time strategy hit has been pilloried due to technical shortcomings.

Ultimately, the question on everyone’s mind is whether Blizzard can reclaim its past reputation of high quality games and services while, as Kotaku’s Jason Schreier reports, pleasing a mandate from its corporate parents to crank up the dial on new releases? Recent history doesn’t inspire confidence. Disappointing its fans with something as cut and dried an idea as a remaster led Blizzard to start offering unconditional refunds.

The answer to that may rest on whatever fate Diablo 4 meets upon release. While Blizzard has maintained its customary silence on a launch date, hiring Fergusson means getting Diablo 4 across the finish line sooner than later. My gut says that Blizzard wants this game out as early as this fall, especially when we most certainly aren’t getting any other major releases from the company this year.

For while the company declared at BlizzCon 2018 that “we have more new products in development today at Blizzard than we’ve ever had in our history,” to boost their “content output and release more games on a regular schedule,” will require something more than an Overwatch 2 whose release is nowhere in sight, an expansion to the aging World of Warcraft and whatever unannounced products the company boldly claims it has up its sleeve. It’ll need Diablo 4.

---