Fresh off role switch, Helldivers 2 boss wastes no time outlining plans to improve the game, declaring Arrowhead needs to get more devs playing it

In case you missed it, Arrowhead's Johan Pilestedt stepped aside as CEO of the studio yesterday, in order to focus more heavily on helping to develop Helldivers 2 from a creative perspective. He looks to be wasting no time in starting to tackle the game's percieved issues either, having already outlined some thoughts and plans to folks on Twitter.

Now serving solely as a chief creative officer and chairman at Arrowhead, having forked over a lot of the his business resposiblities to new CEO Shams Jorjani, it's not too surprising to see Pilestedt immediately engaging with the game's community in a pretty open manner. Even if odds are it'll probably take a little while for the changes some players are hoping for to actually start arriving in game.

In responses to a bunch of players commenting on his tweet about the role switch, Pilestedt's said a whole bunch about the current state of Helldivers 2 and what steps he and the studio'll be taking to try and remedy them.

"First thing we got to do is ensure we get more devs time playing the game. It's hard to make the right decisions if the eyes aren't on the road," he told one user asking about what his plans are when it comes to acting on player feedback. "Secondly, I want to ensure we actively look at the sentiment and create a holistic view of WHY feedback is given. And my working theory is that TTK is too high."

Addressing some concerns about that time to kill observation potentially leading the studio to change how tough it is to bring enemies down in a manner that might make the game less challenging, Pilestedt added: "It doesn't have to be easier. It's just that the weapons occasionally feel like pea shooters."

That wasn't the only time he took aim at the current state of the game's gear either, replying "agree on all points" to one player who suggested that the studio should "start by making armors have actual interesting stats" and asserted that all of the Polar Patriots warbond's guns are "meh or bad". On that last point, Pilestedt also said that the plan is for him to be take a more active role in helping the studio develop weapon balancing patches, which've been a pretty big sticking point for a lot of hardcores so far.

So yeah, it seems like the now ex-CEO isn't wasting any time in sketching out and diving into making the changes he believes are necessary to please the game's community. Make sure to stay tuned for more Helldivers 2 news as the Second Galactic War rages on.