Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt has been a shining example for the game since the release of Helldivers 2. He always engaged with the players, sought feedback and responded to it. From now on he will be able to do all of this even more as he changes his role within the studio.
On May 22, Pilestedt announced that he has decided to step down from his position and Shams Jorjani will take on the role of new CEO. “We have known each other for a long time and I would not put the business in any other hands than his,” Johan wrote of Jorjani, who was previously chief business development officer at Paradox Interactive.
Pilestedt isn’t leaving Arrowhead, he’s just changing
In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Pilestedt explained that he wanted to hire a dedicated CEO to focus more on game development. “During the last year leading up to the launch of Helldivers 2, I got pulled more into the business side of things and wasn’t able to focus as much on the creative side. “It made me realize that I had to make some decisions, both for the success of the company and for myself,” he said.
Instead of being CEO, Pilestedt will take on the role of chief creative officer at Arrowhead. This means he can spend more time working on Helldivers 2 and become even more involved in the community. “I’m not quite finished yet. But I care more about weapon balance than QBR,” Pilestedt wrote in response to one of the fan comments.
Big visions of the ex-CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead
Further down in the comments, Pilestedt shared his approach to reviewing player feedback. “The first thing we need to do is make sure we have more time for the developers to play the game. It’s hard to make the right decisions when your eyes aren’t on the road,” he wrote. “Secondly, I want to make sure that we’re actively engaging with sentiment and taking a holistic look at WHY feedback is being given,” Pilestedt added, mentioning that his working theory is that the current TTK in Helldivers 2 is too high.
Last week, the former CEO spoke to several players about weapon balance and improving gameplay. Now that he has more time to focus on the game, these and other in-game issues will finally get the attention they deserve.
2024-05-23 12:19:15
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