Gears of War producer leaves to help Irrational finish 'BioShock Infinite'

Gears of War producer Rod Fergusson has been brought on to Bioshock Infinite developer Irrational Games to replace recently departed director of product development Tim Gerritsen, according to a Kotaku report.

Gears of War producer Rod Fergusson has been brought on to Bioshock Infinite developer Irrational Games to replace recently departed director of product development Tim Gerritsen, according to a Kotaku report.

Citing anonymous sources, Kotaku reports that the duties left behind by Gerritsen — all of which involve getting BioShock Infinite out the door in time for its February 2013 launch — are now being filled by Fergusson, who has served various producing roles on the Gears of War trilogy and other Epic titles.

Speaking to Kotaku, Irrational creative director Ken Levine wouldn't confirm Fergusson's enrollment, but did speak about the departure of Gerritsen and Nate Wells, another long-time Irrational staffer.

"In a company of 200 people you're going to have turnover," Levine said. "We never like to see a guy like Nate leave because he's been here for a long time but it's been 13 years and I think sometime people want to spread their wings. I'm not going to stop people. We love Nate and I think we all remain friends. After 13 years he sort of finished his work on BioShock Infinite, as you will be able to tell when you see the game again ... I think Nate's moving on to something else."

We've reached out to Epic Games and Ken Levine to see if either will confirm the appointment, and will let you know when we hear back.

Update: Fergusson has confirmed on Twitter that he's leaving Epic Games to join Irrational Games.

Yes it's true, I'm leaving my family at Epic to join my new family at Irrational in Boston starting tomorrow.

— Rod Fergusson (@GearsViking) August 9, 2012