Helldivers 2 boss Pilestedt steps down as CEO to focus more on helping develop the game and its community

Johan Pilestedt has become a household name since Hellraiser 2 took the world by storm. As Arrowhead’s CEO, he loved sharing game updates and interacting openly with players, making him a favorite among many Super Earth soldiers. Now, Pilestedt has chosen to step down as CEO and stay with the studio so that he can focus more on the creative aspects of game development.

Yes, one of the very few CEOs you can find who can respond to posts in a Reddit community without coming off as an annoying asshole or doing something resembling Steve Buscemi’s “Hello, Class” meme is starting to do more of what he seems to love most, working on Helldivers. Plus, considering the studio wants to spend more time providing proper updates and patches to the game, this move seems like another positive step in helping Arrowhead be the best it can be after some recent tweaks caused some outrage.

So, what happened? According to GamesIndustry.biz, Arrowhead has appointed Shams Jorjani as its new CEO, while Pilestedt has chosen to relinquish the position but retain his role as Arrowhead’s chief creative officer and chairman.

“During last year’s run on Helldiver 2, I was focusing more on the business side of things and less on the creative side,” he said of the move. “It made me realize I needed to make some decisions, both for the success of the business and for myself.”

Pillsted told GIBiz that the decision was “not only the right one for me, but the right one for the organization,” and referring to Joe Gani, who spent 12 years in executive positions at publisher Paradox Interactive, Pillsted tweeted: “We have a long relationship and I wouldn’t trust anyone else to run this company.”

He added that now that Jorjani can personally help him with many of the business aspects of running a game studio, he will be able to “spend more time with the team and focus 100% on the game and the community” going forward.

Hellraiser players, what do you think of this? Let us know below, and be sure to stay tuned for more Hellraiser 2 news as the Second Galactic War continues.