14 DAY TRIAL // Steve Papoutsis, the general manager and vice president of developer Visceral Games, is no longer working for publisher Electronic Arts, although it seems that his departure might not have been planned or mutually consented.
He was the executive producer of the recently launched Battlefield Hardline and also worked on all the video games associated with the Dead Space series.
Electronic Arts has not offered clear information about the reasons that made Steve Papoutsis leave, especially considering that there's still plenty of long-term work to do on the recently launched Visceral Games shooter.
Eurogamer quotes the company as stating, "We are thankful for Steve's many contributions to EA and wish him the best. The Visceral team continues to be focused on new game content for Battlefield Hardline including expansion packs, as well as new development projects."
Steve Papoutsis himself has not made any comment and has not talked about his plans for the future.
Scott Probst, who has worked at Electronic Arts since 2003 and was a senior producer on the multiplayer of Battlefield Hardline, has replaced him as general manager.
The new GM also has experience working with Command & Conquer, Dead Space, the Battlefield series, Lord of the Rings, and Medal of Honor.
Steve Papoutsis might be blamed for Battlefield Hardline's problems
The shooter was initially expected to arrive in the fall of last year and to serve as a direct competitor for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
Concerns over quality forced Electronic Arts to give Visceral Games more time to improve both the single-player and the multiplayer experience.
Steve Papoutsis might be the executive blamed for the troubles of Battlefield Hardline, and his departure might be a sign that, despite a solid launch, the series might have a long-term problem.
Visceral Games has said that it wants to support the shooter for a long time and that there are four major DLC packs planned to arrive in 2015 and 2016.
A new Battlefield video game is in the initial development stages at DICE and might be launched in 2016.
At the moment, that studio is focused on the creation of Star Wars Battlefront, which will take gamers deep inside the battles of the franchise in the fall of this year.