After 15 years of operating Arrowhead Video games Studio, Johan Pilestedt has confirmed he’ll now not function its CEO. Going ahead, that place might be stuffed by one Shams Jorjani, an business veteran who beforehand labored at fellow Swedish firm Paradox Interactive as its chief enterprise growth officer.

Does this imply Pilestedt is leaving Arrowhead altogether? No, as he explains on this interview with GamesIndustry.biz, he’ll stay because the studio’s chief inventive officer and chairman. The change in management is so Pilestedt can dedicate himself to recreation creation as soon as once more; one thing he hasn’t been in a position to do as a lot as CEO.

“I realised that operating an organisation of over 100 folks to nonetheless massive it’ll get… it means I’ll [have to choose] between deepening my love for recreation creation, or the enterprise monitor,” says Pilestedt.

“Over the past 12 months going to launch of Helldivers 2, I’ve been pulled extra in the direction of the enterprise aspect of issues, and never in a position to focus as a lot on the inventive aspect. That made me realise I wanted to make some choices, each for the success of the enterprise but additionally myself.”

Helldivers 2 was a pivotal launch for Arrowhead, what with it being its first recreation for the reason that authentic Helldivers launched in 2015. Not solely was this a sequel followers had waited years for, nevertheless it was additionally arrange as one of many PlayStation 5’s few main exclusives for 2024. And with it rising in popularity than anyone anticipated (even turning into the fastest-selling PlayStation recreation of all time), Arrowhead wants sturdy management so as to preserve its playerbase appeased and probably develop the studio. As such, Pilestedt believes him stepping again from the CEO place is finally for one of the best, not only for himself however for Arrowhead: “Having a reluctant CEO isn’t one thing that may prove that effectively, I feel.”

With Pilestedt attending to be extra hands-on with Helldivers 2, the aforementioned Shams Jorjani will deal with, in his personal phrases, “loads of the, frankly, boring enterprise administration stuff that may be a crucial a part of operating an organization, which is difficult to do whenever you’re additionally juggling the chairman’s hat and the inventive director’s hat and in addition being the one who’s within the trenches doing loads of the designing that Johan has been doing over time.” Except for his time at Paradox, Jorjani has served because the chairman of Hooded Horse, the indie recreation writer which launched one other shock success of 2024, Manor Lords, simply final month.

Time will inform if this winds up being the correct transfer for the corporate, however I can perceive why Pilestedt would need to go away enterprise aspect of issues to another person. Irrespective of the sphere, creatives need to, effectively, create issues, and also you don’t actually get to do this if you happen to’re too busy operating an organization to verify it stays afloat.