Summary
Arrowhead Game Studios CEO andHelldivers 2Director Johan Pilestedt has announced he is stepping down from his position to become the studio’s Chief Creative Officer. Pilestedt hopes the move will allow him to focus more onHelldivers 2and its community.
Since its launch in February,Helldivers 2has performed exceedingly well. Sony recently confirmed that Arrowhead’s third-person shooter reached 12 million copies sold in its first 12 weeks, making it Sony’s fastest-selling PlayStation release ever. Naturally, this has led to significant growth at Arrowhead, straining Pilestedt’s ability to dedicate time to his studio’s biggest hit. It seems the former CEO chose to take this issue into his own hands.
Pilestedt said on Twitter that Shams Jorjani has replaced him as Arrowhead’s CEO. Jorjani spent 12 years at Paradox Interactive in various leadership roles, and also has experience working as chairman for an indie publisher and as an advisor for multiple game companies. Pilestedt explained that over the last year, he has been pulled more and more towards the business side of Arrowhead, reducing the time he has to help with the studio’s creative efforts. Pilestedt believes that Jorjani’s arrival will be good for Pilestedt himself, the company, andHelldivers 2’s continued development, as his new CCO role allows him to dedicate all of his focus towards Arrowhead’s newest game and its flourishing community.
There are other new changes surrounding Arrowhead and its approach toHelldivers 2, as a community manager recently announced thatHelldivers 2’s developers plan to take more timethan usual with the next update, a trend that could continue with future patches according to the manager. The update in question is expected to mostly focus on weapon balancing, an area that can prove to be quite finicky, especially in a shooter likeHelldivers 2.
But it seems that Arrowhead has much more planned forHelldivers 2than just balancing updates. A recent leak showcased one of theenemies fromHelldivers 2’s unreleased faction, the Illuminate. The faction appears to be a middle point between the more range-focused Automatons and the melee-focused Terminids, as the Illuminate apparently possess both ranged and melee capabilities.
It’s still not known whenHelldivers 2’s Illuminate factionwill be added, but it’s possible that Pilestedt’s move to CCO could help boost development efforts, not just for the Illuminate but for all future Arrowhead content. Arrowhead has made it clear that it viewsHelldivers 2as a live-service title that will continue to receive updates for the foreseeable future.
Helldivers 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Do you believe in freedom? Can you stand in the face of oppression – and defend the defenceless? Wage war for peace. Die for democracy.Join forces with up to three friends and wreak havoc on an alien scourge threatening the safety of your home planet, Super Earth, in this multiplayer co-op shooter for PS5 and PC from Arrowhead Game Studios.Step into the boots of the Helldivers, an elite class of soldiers whose mission is to spread peace, liberty and Managed Democracy using the biggest, baddest and most explosive tools in the galaxy.Helldivers don’t go planet side without proper backup, but it’s up to you to decide how and when to call it in. Not only do you have a host of superpowered primary weapons and customizable loadouts, you also have the ability to call on stratagems during play.Helldivers 2 features Arrowhead’s best cooperative gameplay yet. Collaboration will be vital: Teams will synergize on loadouts, strategize their approach for each mission and complete objectives together.1Enlist in Super Earth’s premier military peacekeeping force today. We are heroes… we are legends… WE ARE HELLDIVERS.
