Technology

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead names Shams Jorjani as its new CEO

Arrowhead Games Studios has named Shams Jorjani as its new CEO, changing firm founder Johan Pilestedt within the function.

Pilestedt will stay chief inventive officer and chairman. The transfer follows the smash hit success of Helldivers 2, which has bought 12 million copies because it launched on PS5 and PC in February.

Jorjani is a video games enterprise veteran and spent 12 years in senior management roles at Paradox Interactive. He’s additionally served as chairman of indie writer Hooded Horse, and acts as a senior adviser for varied video games companies.

Speaking to GamesBusiness.biz, Pilestedt explains that hiring a devoted CEO will give him extra time to give attention to his love for recreation creation, whereas giving the corporate the construction and management it wants.

“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 tells us. “I realised that working an organisation of over 100 individuals to nonetheless massive it’s going to get… it means I’ll [have to choose] between deepening my love for recreation creation, or the enterprise monitor.

“Over the final yr going to launch of Helldivers 2, I’ve been pulled extra in 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.

“So I reached out to Shams. We had a lunch, and we requested him that if I used to be to rethink working Arrowhead for the subsequent decade, and I wanted to rent a new CEO, would he have an interest?

“After some contemplation and deep anxiety on how things are going to pan out, I finally came to the proper conclusion that I will have to follow my heart. It’s not only right for me, but it’s also right for the organisation. Having a reluctant CEO is not something that will turn out that well, I think.”

Jorjani provides: “When you’re speaking to creatives like Johan, it’s not like he needs to retire. Helldivers 2 isn’t the spotlight of his profession. Hopefully it’s the fourth finest recreation he ever makes. So the query is how can we set Johan and the workforce as much as get to that in a extra constant method, slightly than talent plus luck plus happenstance… all of the issues that led us right here.

“What I’ll be bringing to the desk is organisation and management. What I did at Paradox, the place I joined as the 23rd individual after which helped develop the corporate into the behemoth it was… it was about organisation, management and enterprise focus. It’s numerous the, frankly, boring enterprise administration stuff that could be a mandatory a part of working 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 numerous the designing that Johan has been doing through the years.

“Bethesda has Todd Howard, Kojima Productions has Kojima, Remedy has Sam 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.”

“So that’s the set-up. How do we enable Johan to make more Helldivers, and what I bring is a structure around that.”

You can learn extra from our interview with Pilestedt and Jorjani proper right here.



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