Helldivers 2 Studio Wants to be the Next 'From Software or Blizzard' While Remaining Independent - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 June 2024 / 2,295 Views
Arrowhead Game Studios chief creative officer Johan Pilestedt in an interview with GamesIndustry said they want to remain an independent company and wants the studio to turn into the next From Software or Blizzard Entertainment.
"We pride ourselves on being an independent studio," Pilestedt said. "We have to see what the future holds, but there’s nothing in the plans where we want to be acquired by somebody. I want to see how high we can fly. And bringing Shams on board, we have a good potential to realize that future of turning into the next From Software or Blizzard."
Arrowhead developed Helldivers 2 with Sony Interactive Entertainment publishing the game. The game has been a huge success having sold over 12 million units in 12 weeks and even surpassing God of War Ragnarök to become the fastest selling PlayStation title of all time.
Pilestedt is a founder of the studio and was the CEO, but has now stepped down to be the new CCO. Shams Jorjani, who has 12 years of leadership roles at Paradox Interactive, has been named as the new CEO of the company.
Jorjani in the same interview stated, "The goal of the studio is to make really great co-op games. We really want to turn Arrowhead into a flagship studio, where people who want to make these kind-of games say to themselves: ‘I want to work at Arrowhead’. When we were growing up, we really wanted to work at Blizzard, it was one of the bucket list places to work at. I think Arrowhead has the potential to be that.
"But that doesn’t mean we have to be a 500-person company. In fact, a 500-person company is quite painful in a lot of ways. We will see growth, but growth as a means to an ends, not as an end itself. We don’t have plans to go public. None of those shenanigans. Measured growth that allows us to make amazing game and be a good place to work."
Pilestedt added, "We don’t run the business for monetary gain. The humbleness and the desire to just make great games is the only reason we exist."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Both From Software and Blizzard have parent companies, so...
That was the point they were making. They want to be big in the gaming world, but without a parent company
Someone will make them an offer they can't refuse...
Let's just hope it's not Sony, they tend to close all their British studios after a while.
Liverpool,London, Evolution, Guerilla Cambridge etc.
Arrowhead is based in Sweden
Yikes, I certainly hope they aren't referring to current day blizzard!
Yeah I doubt that. I'm pretty sure he's referring to the days of when Blizzard were kings of gaming but still a small company overall. Biggest difference being Arrowhead is independent. Blizzard never was.
No. Blizzard was owned by Vivendi Games from 1998-2008, and Davidson & Associates from 1994-1998. I guess those first few years from 1991-1994 was the only time the company was independent.
The Vivendi merger was how Activision was able to get Blizzard along with other IPs like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro The Dragon.
U can't make it big if you don't have a backer,
That's what Ninja Theory tried to do with Hellblade 1,
First independent triple AAA game and they said they were staying independent til Xbox bought them lol,
I wouldn't be surprised if arrowhead gets bought
I hope with the influx of money from HD2 they can achieve it. With Larian's recent success, they were able to open a new studio but even their main one's next venture is bound to sell loads and I'm sure they will become a staple for good quality games for years, same as From.
Although, not sure Blizzard is the best example.
I'm guessing they're referring to 90s and 00's Blizzard. Where they were still a small company yet were still able to put out massively popular games that received years worth of support. To me, Blizzard was the best game company in the industry during those times.
Unlike Arrowhead though, Blizzard was never in their history privately owned. Arrowhead should do their best to remain independent.
A good attitude and a pretty bold goal. Curios to see what's next from them.
The thing is, Sony gave them a lot of resources and time to make Helldivers 2. They are independent in name only. I would like to see them create something on their own that is original. Then we can talk about their growth potential.
