Epic Games’ 20th year as a company is proving to be a turbulent one between acquisitions, launching of new games, taking on an outside investor – and departures of some key veterans.
The latest is veteran producer Rod Fergusson, a long-time key producer and contributor to the video game company best known for its “Gears of War” franchise and the Unreal cutting-edge game development engine.
“Yes it’s true, I’m leaving my family at Epic to join my new family at Irrational in Boston starting tomorrow,” Fergusson said via Twitter on Thursday.
“And yes I’ve played [Bioshock] Infinite and it’s amazing!,” he added. “Can’t wait for you guys to get your hands on it.”
Fergusson is joining Irrational in the wake of several departures from the development team for the latest Bioshock title. Several gaming websites note that at least four members of the Infinite team, including its design lead, top systems designer, art director and director of product development, have quit.
Just three weeks ago, Lee Perry, who played a key role in development of several Epic titles, and several other Epic veterans left the company to launch their own venture called BitMonster.
While some people have left, others have joined.
Epic formally launched on Thursday a new studio in Baltimore called Impossible.
In June, Epic also took on its first outside investor as China-based Tencent Holdings took a minority stake in the company. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Epic President Dr. Michael Capps said Epic remained in control of its own destiny.
All the changes are taking place as Epic gears up for another Gears adventure, another title in its “Infinity Blade” franchise and prepares to roll out a new franchise called Fortnite.
In June, Fergusson, who was director of production at Epic, was in Los Angeles at E3 touting the forthcoming “Gears: Judgment.”
[EPIC GAMES ARCHIVE: Check out a decade of Epic stories as reported in WRAL Tech Wire.]
