Johan Pilestedt temporarily leaves work to care for his loved ones and himself.
Arrowhead
Johan Pilestedt, the CCO of Arrowhead Game Studios and Creative Director of Helldivers 2, has suddenly announced his decision to go on sabbatical. As he said on X/Twitter, the reason is his working "around the clock" on Helldivers for 11 years, which "made me set aside family, friends and my lovely wife... and myself."
"I am going to take some time now to redeem what was lost from all of those that supported me for over a decade."
Pilestedt promised to be back in 1-5 months and start working on the next Arrowhead game then. Meanwhile, he's "a phone call away from the team" and will help where he can.
Helldivers 2 was a huge success for the studio, becoming the Best Multiplayer Game of 2024 TGA, so Pilestedt deserves a break after all this effort, especially after the damage control Arrowhead had to do after introducing balance changes that nobody appreciated.
Now, the team is "working on the high concept" for their next game, which Pilestedt will contribute to after his time off.
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