BioShock Infinite VP of development Rod Fergusson leaving Irrational Games

Rod Fergusson, the former Gears of War producer who joined Irrational Games to help wrap up BioShock Infinite, is in the process of leaving the company, Fergusson confirmed to Polygon today.

Fergusson says that while he is still at the company he is in the process of working through the transition and hasn't yet determined where he will go next.

"During my departure from Epic, I learned that Irrational was in need of a 'closer' to help finish BioShock Infinite," he wrote to Polygon. "I've been striving for better storytelling in the games I've worked on and I saw this as a great opportunity to learn from Ken and his team on how to build a truly story-driven game.

"I am very proud of the work that I did and of the team and what they were able to accomplish on Infinite. Now with the game shipped successfully, I've done what I set out to do here and now I'm looking forward to the next chapter in my life and career."

Fergusson joined Irrational Games last August as the executive vice president of development, spending about nine months helping with the final development of BioShock Infinite. The game released two weeks ago to high acclaim. Fergusson's departure was timed to the game's release, we're told.

Prior to his stint at Irrational, Fergusson spent more than seven years at Epic Games where he served various producing roles on the Gears of War trilogy and other Epic titles. His departure from Epic came the month after massive Chinese internet company Tencent purchased 40 percent of total Epic capital for $330 million. That investment led to Tencent appointing two representatives to the Epic board of directors.

Fergusson's departure was followed by a number of other high profile departures from the company including three leads at Bulletstorm-developer People Can Fly, which was acquired by Epic in 2007. In October, Cliff Bleszinski left the studio after two decades with the company. In December, the president of Epic Games, Mike Capps, announced that he was retiring from his role at the company and "transitioning into an advisory role as well as remaining on the Epic board of directors." Earlier this month, Capps gave up that connection with the company too, saying he is no longer affiliated with Epic.

During last month's Game Developer Conference, Fergusson joined a group of other producers, creative directors and studio heads on a panel about how to motivate developers.

We've reached out to Fergusson to see where he might be heading next. We've also reached out to Irrational Games for comment. We will update this story when they respond.