Jake Brigstock
May 22, 2024
Bang Showbiz - Gaming / VideoElephant
John Pilestadt, who was CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Games Studios, has stepped down to take on a new role that's more focused on the game's community.
He's now taking on the role of Chief Creative Officer so he can "spend more time with the team and 100 percent of my focus on the games and community," he said in a Tweet.
Helldivers 2 is the fastest selling PlayStation game of all time, selling 12 million copies in 12 weeks across PlayStation 5 and PC, even surpassing the sales of the critically-acclaimed God of War Ragnarok.
And after leading this success, Pilestedt is now stepping back.
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
One social media user thought it might have been time for him to retire, before Pilestedt replied: "Not nearly done. But I care more about weapon balance than QBRs."
QBRs are quarterly business reports - it sounds like Pilestedt was aching to get back to doing what he truly loves.
He still remains chair of Arrowhead though.
Nah! Not nearly done. But I care more about weapon balance than QBRs 🤷♂️ 🤣
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 22, 2024
Pilestedt's successor as CEO is Shams Jordan who will take on the day-to-day running of the developer.
He is a former executive at Swedish games company Paradox and publisher of one of Arrowhead's previous games Magicka.
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
Pilestedt recently said he was "impressed by the willpower of the game's community" after Sony announced a U-turn on plans to force PC gamers to link a PlayStation Network (PSN) account.
It was met with uproar from its community but after making its voice heard, Sony decided to not implement the change, much to Pilestedt's relief too.
But it's understood the game is still not playable where PSN is not live.
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