Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has a new CEO after its previous boss stepped down to take on a new role focused on the studio’s games and community.
After shifting an incredible 12 million copies in 12 weeks across PC and PlayStation 5, Helldivers 2 is the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time ahead of even God of War Ragnarok. Now, Johan Pilestedt, who was Arrowhead CEO, becomes Chief Creative Officer. In a tweet, Pilestedt said this means he will get to focus more on the studio’s games as well as its community.
Hey everyone,
Big update, I’ve decided to hire @ShamsJorjani as the new CEO of @ArrowheadGS! We go way back and I wouldn’t trust the business in any other hands than his. (…and he comes with an impressive resume and love for games)
But what about me and my involvement in…
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 22, 2024
Replacing Pilestedt as Arrowhead CEO is Shams Jorjani, former executive at fellow Swedish games company Paradox and publisher of one of Arrowhead’s previous games, Magicka. Jorjani now takes on the day-to-day running of the business. In a tweet, Jorjani said he was “humbled and excited to get to work with such talented nerds (again!).” Pilestedt remains Arrowhead chairman amid the reshuffle.
A bit of news! I’m joining the amazing team at @ArrowheadGS as CEO!
Humbled and excited to get to work with such talented nerds (again!). pic.twitter.com/L6T79oziq5
— Shams Jorjani (@ShamsJorjani) May 22, 2024
The shakeup at the top of Arrowhead comes after a particularly difficult time for the developer, which butted heads with Helldivers 2 publisher and IP owner Sony over the PSN account requirement backlash. Sony eventually reversed its decision, but the game remains unavailable in countries where PSN is not live.
Arrowhead has also indicated it wants to spend more time focusing on things like patches and weapon balance after community complaints around nerfs and low impact Premium Warbonds. Just this week, Arrowhead said it was pumping out balance patches too fast, and wanted to slow the live service down a bit.
In a subsequent tweet, Pilestedt explained his decision to step down as CEO further: “Not nearly done. But I care more about weapon balance than QBRs [Quarterly Business Reviews].”
Helldivers 2 is an astonishing success story for Arrowhead and PlayStation, and it seems likely the live service aspect of the game will continue to develop over many years. Meanwhile, Helldivers 2’s Galactic War, with its various meta narrative twists and turns, continues apace, with some hardcore players calling for more to hit the Western front and fight the Automatons instead of the Terminids.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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