Arrowhead Game Studios is a Swedish

video game development Video game development (sometimes shortened to gamedev) is the process of creating a video game. It is a multidisciplinary practice, involving programming, design, art, audio, user interface, and writing. Each of those may be made up of more speci ...

company, established in 2008 by a group of

Luleå University of Technology Luleå University of Technology is a Public university, public research university in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The university has four campuses located in the Arctic, Arctic Region in the cities of Luleå, Kiruna, Skellefteå, and Piteå. With ...

students.

History

Johan Pilestedt and Emil Englund, studying

Skellefteå Skellefteå (, locally ) is a Cities in Sweden, city in Västerbotten County, Sweden, with a population of 36,388. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 77,322 inhabitants in 2024. The city is historically industrial, with mining ...

, lead the development of their first game, later released as '' Magicka'', which won the Game of the Year award at the

Swedish Game Awards Swedish Game Awards is Sweden's largest video game development competition. It has been held annually since 2002 and is organized by the student-driven, non-profit entrepreneurship association at the Royal Institute of Technology, Excitera. The c ...

2008. In 2011, ''Magicka'' was released, published by

Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independ ...

, after a contract with the publisher was signed in 2009. After the development, the team decided on planning their next games and intended to ban crunch. The company gradually moved to Stockholm in 2011–2012. In the following years, Arrowhead developed '' The Showdown Effect'', a 2.5D multiplayer action game inspired by 1980s and 1990s action movies, for which they stuck with Paradox Interactive to publish it in 2013, and '' Gauntlet'', a co-op dungeon action game, which was published by WB Games in 2014. In 2015, Arrowhead developed '' Helldivers'', which was published by

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

for

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced ...

, and

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. A sequel, '' Helldivers 2'', was first teased in 2021 and released in 2024 by

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

for

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

and

. On 22 May 2024, Johan Pilestedt announced that he had stepped down as CEO and hired Shams Jorjani, a longtime business associate to succeed him. Pilestedt assumed the role of

chief creative officer The title Chief Creative Officer (CCO) typically describes the highest-ranking position of a creative team within a media company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, ...

(CCO) in order to fully involve himself in game development.

Games

Awards

* '' Magicka'' won the Game of the Year award at the

2008. * '' Helldivers'' was nominated for " Action Game of the Year" and won for " Handheld Game of the Year" at the 19th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards held by the

Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...

. * ''Helldivers 2'' won multiple awards in 2024, including two times “Best Multiplayer Game”, “Best Console Game” and “Best Ongoing Game” and has been nominated for the “ Ultimate Game of the Year” at the

Golden Joystick Awards The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be voted ...

, as well as for the “Game of the Year” at the Steam Game Awards.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Video game companies established in 2008 Indie game developers Video game companies of Sweden Companies based in Stockholm Luleå University of Technology alumni

History

Games

Awards

Further reading

References

External links