1P Start

GameSpot has been around for long enough now where people view them as one of the larger sources for video game news/reviews/etc, up there with the likes of 1up and IGN. Though this doesn’t make them good, we can all admit they are one of the bigger names out there.

Some sad news about the inner workings of the company behind the site has come out all starting with a reviewer named Jeff Gerstmann doing nothing more than what he was paid to do, review Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, which he overall found very poor and received a 6.0 (Click here for full review). He was terminated with no specific reason given as of yet. So here are some conclusions that are being reached as more information is uncovered.

VallyWag has an undisclosed editor still working at GameSpot who left some pretty detailed information on how the review process works. Reviews are passed between all the editors before they go live to ensure that the review represents a certain standard they try to set, so with Gerstmann’s 10+ year career with the company coming to a close by being locked out of his office and told to leave, the insider editor leaves a sense that those still employed should basically fear that anyone can be fired at any time. GameSpot over the last year has been allowing advertising teams to have a voice in the editorial process. If a game is not receiving a high score, the publishers are able to step in and not allow the review to hit the site until the game is already out on the shelves. Executive editor Josh Larson said in a meeting after this firing, on the big name games getting reviewed implied, “that they should get higher scores, especially since those titles are usually more highly advertised on our site.”

GameSpot has had a background ’skin’ for Kane & Lynch that was running all through the site (more on that advertising trick from Josh Larson here). After this information about the reviews and Gerstmann’s firing has gone public, all of that advertising has since been pulled, is this coincidence? Also noteworthy is the video review of the game by Gerstmann was pulled from GameSpot, but already backed up on YouTube.

At the moment Joystiq has a direct quote from Sarah Cain of c|net on the situation saying “we do not terminate employees based on external pressure from advertisers.” Other than that statement, she let just about no other information loose, however I do feel this is understandable, as a company has no business releasing publicly information on why they terminate an employee. I am semi-surprised that Gerstmann himself has yet to give out any statements, then again, he might be under a non-disclosure agreement with the company.

Gamepolitics has another source backing the ‘Eidos not pressuring c|net into the firing’ side of this, even going on to say that Gerstmann was already on thin ice for “unprofessional reviews and review practices.”

Though there is a crapload of rumors and speculation through out all this, the facts do come down to:

Now it is time for us all to just play the waiting game until more concrete statements are made public. Some after effects of the firings are coming from the most recent Penny Arcade comic

(damn Gabe and Tycho are quick with the news)

Also a nice review of Kane & Lynch from Cashwh0re