Rod Fergusson, a video game producer best known for managing the development of the Gears of War franchise, recently transferred to Blizzard Entertainment to supervise development on the Diablo series, an action role-playing hack and slash dungeon crawler.
His move coincided with the COVID-19 lockdown, which forced all employees at Blizzard to work from home. Fergusson says he was in the office for just eight days when he was sent home. As someone known for his hands-on approach, which often involves keeping staff motivated and moving, he admits that working from home has been hard.
Despite the challenges, Fergusson says that the team has managed to maintain its productivity and Diablo IV is still very much on track. Announced at BlizzCon 2019, the new entry in the series, which according to game designer Jesse McCree, has been inspired by heavy metal, has fans counting down the days since Diablo III was released eight years ago.
Part of the reason the team has managed to stay focused is that Blizzard tried to make the transition to working at home as smoothly as possible. The company allowed employees to take their equipment and PCs home, provided allowances to cover expenses, ensured break time was observed, and even sent care packages to employees.
Fergusson said the gaming industry has responded incredibly well to the lockdown, considering that Hearthstone has managed to ship two expansions, and World of Warcraft is scheduled to ship its own. As for a release date for Diablo IV, it’s likely that fans will still have to wait until next year. Meanwhile, Blizzard has confirmed that Blizzcon will be held virtually in early 2021, so the developer will undoubtedly have more Diablo news then.
Diablo IV is expected to follow the events in Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, the expansion pack for Diablo III that was released for the PC and Mac versions of Diablo III on March 25, 2014. In the new sequel, cultists summon the main antagonist and daughter of Mephisto, Lilith, who establishes power in Sanctuary.
Source: PC Gamer
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