It's been a tumultuous time for Blizzard of late, from high profile lawsuits to additional reports of both a toxic and sexist culture. Earlier today Kotaku broke a story that a number of high profile developers working on Diablo IV and World of Warcraft have left the company - which has since been confirmed by Activision Blizzard.

Diablo IV's game director Luis Barriga, lead designer Jesse McCree, and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft are no longer at Blizzard. Apparently the news was broken to the teams today.

“We can confirm Luis Barriga, Jesse McCree, and Jonathan LeCraft are no longer with the company,” Activision Blizzard confirmed in a statement to Kotaku. "We have a deep, talented roster of developers already in place and new leaders have been assigned where appropriate. We are confident in our ability to continue progress, deliver amazing experiences to our players, and move forward to ensure a safe, productive work environment for all.”

Jesse McCree, whose namesake led to the naming of the popular Overwatch character McCree, has previously been named or associated with the lawsuit's claim of "frat boy" like culture, sexism, and toxicity. So much so that Overwatch fans are currently asking Blizzard to rename the character.

With Diablo IV currently one of the highest profile games currently in development, losing both the game's director and lead designer sounds like a pretty significant blow. That said, veteran Microsoft and Gears developer Rod Fergusson recently joined the company to oversee the franchise - with Rod known in many circles for getting development on track.