The head of Helldivers 2 is stepping down as CEO and is hiring a replacement to focus more on his passion: developing games.
Who is it about? Johan Pilestedt is the Creative Director of Helldivers 2 and was also the CEO of the development studio Arrowhead Games until May 22, 2024.
Pilestedt is extremely popular with the Helldivers 2 community because he communicates very openly on social media, especially on x.com. He frequently shares interesting information about the development of the shooter, answers players’ questions, and explains the decisions the team makes.
For example, Pilestedt advised that when the shooter was released, players should not spend money on Helldivers 2 because the servers were still having issues. He also explained how the game’s humor came about and believed, after repeated criticism of numerous balancing changes, that he thought they had gone too far with the nerfs.
Helldivers head demotes himself
What’s the deal with the new CEO? Pilestedt announced on x.com that he is stepping down as CEO of Arrowhead Games. He has appointed Shams Jorjani as the new CEO, who Pilestedt said has a great love for video games and is much more organized than Pilestedt himself.
In the same breath, Pilestedt announced that he would now be the CCO (Chief Creative Officer), which means he can spend more time with the team. The new role will also allow him to focus 100% on the games and the community.
In a further post, Pilestedt summarized: “This allows me to focus on my passion of creating the best games for you! […]”
What are Pilestedt’s new responsibilities? As Pilestedt revealed to gamesindustry.biz, his work life has recently shifted increasingly towards the business side, and he hasn’t been able to focus as much on the creative side as he would have liked.
While Shams Jorjani, as the new CEO, will mainly take care of the organization and leadership, Pilestedt has the primary task of advancing the studio’s creative side. Jorjani is expected to enable Pilestedt to create more games like Helldivers 2.
In this context, Pilestedt wants to ensure, as he revealed on x.com, that more developers from the studio actually play Helldivers 2 and get a feel for the game. This is important so that they can make the right decisions for the game. Decisions such as adjusting enemy spawns: Too many enemies caused frustrated players in Helldivers 2 – New update should help
