Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Games Studios has a new CEO.
FormerParadox Interactivechief business development officer Shams Jorjani is the company’s new CEO, replacing company founder Johan Pilestedt in the role. Pilestedt will remain chief creative officer and chairman.
Speaking toGamesIndustry.biz, Pilestedt said the decision to hire a dedicated CEO will give him more time to focus on game creation.
“I’ve been thinking about the journey ahead for Arrowhead, the future games we’re going to be making, and running the organisation beyond the 120 or so developers we have currently,” he said.
“I realised that running an organisation of over 100 people to however large it is going to get… it means I will [have to choose] between deepening my love for game creation, or the business track.”
Pilestedt explained that the massive success of Helldivers and the associated pressure of running the business led him to explore moving away from the CEO role.
“So I reached out to Shams. We had a lunch, and we asked him that if I was to reconsider running Arrowhead for the next decade, and I needed to hire a new CEO, would he be interested?”
Jorjani said: “When you’re talking to creatives like Johan, it’s not like he wants to retire.Helldivers 2isn’t the highlight of his career. Hopefully it’s the fourth best game he ever makes.”
“BethesdahasTodd Howard,Kojima Productionshas Kojima,RemedyhasSam Lake… but when you ask who is running these companies, who is the CEO or managing director… you can’t name the humble servant [laughs] behind the scenes,” he added.
“So that’s the set-up. How do we enable Johan to make more Helldivers, and what I bring is a structure around that.”
Since its release, Helldivers has enjoyed record breaking success for both Arrowhead and publisherSony.
Further reading
Last week, Sony saidHelldivers 2 was PlayStation’s fastest-selling game launch ever, “far exceeding expectations” with 12 million copies sold acrossPCandPS5in its first 12 weeks.
The live service game surpassed the 11 million copies ofGod of War Ragnaröksold in its first 10 weeks last year.
Pilestedt also told GI.biz that he wants the studio toascend to Blizzard or From Software status while remaining independent.
