Category: Video Games

Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt has announced he has gone on sabbatical leave and, when he returns, will start work on developer Arrowhead’s next game.

In a tweet, Pilestedt said he’s spent 11 years working “around the clock” on the Helldivers intellectual property, starting with the first Helldivers game in 2013 and Helldivers 2 since early 2016.

“Eleven years of working around the clock on the same IP has made me set aside family, friends, and my lovely wife… and myself,” Pilestedt said. “I am going to take some time now to redeem what was lost from all of those that supported me for over a decade.

“I am sure my friends at Arrowhead will do their utmost in the meantime to deliver amazing stuff to Helldivers 2. When I’m back I will start working on the next Arrowhead game.”

Pilestedt was thrust into the headlines following Helldivers 2’s explosive launch in February 2024. Despite a raft of issues the cooperative shooter became PlayStation Studios’ fastest-selling game of all time, shifting 12 million copies in just 12 weeks. Helldivers 2 is so successful that Sony is turning it into a movie.

Pilestedt himself became the face of Helldivers 2, often wading into discussion about the game’s qualities and failings across social media, Reddit threads, and Discord. In May last year, Pilestedt revealed that Helldivers 2’s enormous success had caused a problem for the studio: more community toxicity than it had ever had to deal with before.

Prior to the release of Helldivers 2, Arrowhead had enjoyed big hits with the first Helldivers game and Magicka, but the success of Helldivers 2 raised the game and the studio’s profile. “The big difference now, which is horrifying, is the amount of threats and rude behavior that people in the studio are getting from some really shitty individuals within the community,” Pilestedt told G.biz. “That’s something new we have to deal with.”

When Helldivers 2 launched it faced significant server issues that made the game unplayable for many, sparking an initial backlash. Since then, Arrowhead has faced complaints about everything from weapon balance to low impact Premium Warbonds. But by far the biggest backlash was sparked by Sony’s controversial decision to force PC gamers to link to a PlayStation Network account to play. Sony eventually reversed its decision, but not before a review-bombing campaign savaged Helldivers 2 on Steam. Arrowhead community managers have said the PSN backlash caused staff to lose a week simply having to deal with the fallout.

Amid Helldivers 2’s success, Pilestedt changed his position from Arrowhead CEO to chief creative officer so he could focus more on the studio’s games as well as its community. Replacing Pilestedt as Arrowhead CEO was Shams Jorjani, former executive at fellow Swedish games company Paradox and publisher of Magicka.

There’s no word on Helldivers 2’s next game, but it seems likely we won’t see it for some time. Meanwhile, Arrowhead continues to update Helldivers 2, with the recent addition of third enemy faction the Illuminate breathing new life into the game.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

After a strong Xbox Developer Direct to kick 2025 off, things are looking good for Microsoft and its strong stable of first-party studios. But, which Xbox game series get you most excited? Which gave you more enjoyment than any other in the glory days of the 360? Or if you’ve never owned an Xbox console, which are you most looking forward to coming to other platforms like PlayStation, as Microsoft seemingly continues its plans to share its library with the world.

There are many legendary game series to choose from (especially since Microsoft’s acquisitions of both Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. That means this tier list can include any series associated with Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard, as long as there has been more than one entry into it so far – sorry to MachineGames and Indiana Jones! Give us a sequel, please, and then you can make the cut. Just a reminder that this isn’t an all Xbox Game Series list, so we haven’t involved every single Xbox game series here, but have tried to cover the bases of current relevance and historical impact. Take a look at my personal tier list, based completely on what I’ve enjoyed playing the most over the years, here:

Poland-based game studio People Can Fly has been announced as the co-developer of the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day alongside The Coalition.

In a press release People Can Fly says it is “honored to return to the world of Gears of War[.]” The studio previously served as the lead developer of Gears of War: Judgment after co-developing Gears of War 1-3. “Returning to collaborate on the next chapter of this ligendary saga is both a privilege and an exciting opportunity to build upon the intense, visceral action and rich storytelling that fans have come to love.”

Gears of War: E-Day was announced at last year’s Xbox Showcase and is set to be a prequel to the original trilogy starring younger versions of characters like Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago. And yes, the original actors will be returning to reprise their roles.

The game will cover the origins of the Locust invasion on Emergence Day. In a sit down with IGN, Brand Director Nicole Fawcette and Creative Director Matt Searcy said that the goal is to focus on the horror elements from the original trilogy. “What if the ground opened up and monsters came out? Yeah, it’s set on a fictional, other planet, but there are very human reactions and stories we get to tell,” Searcy tells IGN. “To do that, we need to be able to tell a story that feels like a horror story.”

People Can Fly was founded in 2002 and became known for games like Bullestorm and Painkiller. Epic Games acquired the studio in 2007, briefly renaming the studio Epic Games Poland, before the company spun off independently under its old name and logo.

Gears of War: E-Day will be the studio’s next major game after the launch of Outriders in 2021. Be sure to check out our op-ed on why Gears of War needs to rediscover its blockbuster levels of entertainment again with E-Day.

Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.