Arrowhead CEO steps down to focus more on developing Helldivers 2

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios has a new CEO. Shams Jorjani, a former Paradox Interactive executive, will be stepping into the role, while former CEO Johan Pilestedt will focus more on developing the company’s flagship title Helldivers 2.

“I am taking the role of chief creative officer, which means I will spend MORE time with the team and 100% of my focus on the games and community!” Pilestedt wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

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Pilestedt has been a constant presence on X for the Helldivers community since the PlayStation-published title launched in February. He’s always been pretty open about the development process and has played along with Helldivers 2’s Super Earth propaganda. That remained true after the announcement, as he responded to user comments about what could be improved with the game.

One user posted about how Pilestedt should start making armor with “interesting stats” and improve the guns in future Warbonds. Pilestedt said he agreed “on all points.”

Players have been generally disgruntled about the state of the game over the last few weeks. Beyond the backlash to PlayStation requiring a PSN account to play the game on PC (the publisher has since backtracked on the decision), players have been frustrated by certain decisions, along with the recent Polar Patriot Warbond. When asked about implementing player feedback, Pilestedt said he also wanted to get more developers playing the game. “It’s hard to make the right decisions if the eyes aren’t on the road,” he wrote.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, he spoke more about wanting to get back into the creative side of game development, and how the success of Helldivers 2 and the expansion of the studio was going to get in the way of that.

“Over the last year going to launch of Helldivers 2, I’ve