Update 2:45 PM EST: Gamespot has issued a
massive Q&A addressing many outstanding issues surrounding the firing.
Update: 11:50 AM EST Dec. 5, 2007: Check out
Joystiq's analysis of the edits to Gerstmann's Kane & Lynch review. GameSpot editors comment on their
Hot Spot podcast. Also:
Tuesday and
Wednesday updates from around the web.
Update 10:00 PM EST: Gamespot has posted
official notice of the firing on their website. Meanwhile, some editors at CNET have commented on the controversy in a
podcast.
Update - 11:20 AM EST Dec. 3, 2007: Further updates, and
Gerstmann's exclusive comments to Joystiq.
Update - 11:00AM EST Dec. 2, 2007: More updates from around the web.
Update - 3:45PM EST: Ziff Davis employees rally for Gerstmann
Update - 9:00AM EST Dec. 1, 2007: The latest developments on the story.
Update - 5:45PM EST: CNET has
amended their earlier statement with Joystiq.
Update - 3:20PM EST: We just noticed that Gerstmann's video review, previously accessible only through a direct link, has been removed from the site. Here's an alternate
YouTube link.
Update - 2:20PM EST: We got a response from CNET, GameSpot's parent company, that totally explains the whole thing away ... you see. Actually,
they don't say much.
Update - 12:52 AM EST: Penny Arcade, which helped popularize this story with
their comic last night, has posted an
accompanying commentary piece on the issue. The story they were told (by whom, we do not know) has Gamespot management angry at Gerstmann for long-standing problems with his reviewing "tone." The
Kane & Lynch review, which allegedly caused Eidos to withdraw "hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of future advertising from the site," served as the straw that broke the camel's back. There's no named source for this information, but the piece does say that "the firm belief internally [is] that Jeff was sacrificed."
Update - 11:00 AM EST: The anonymous source/speculation train rolls on. Rock Paper Shotgun has
posted a story citing an unnamed "very reliable source" as saying that "while Gerstmann wasn't the most popular man with the CNET owners, it was his
Kane & Lynch review alone that saw him lose his job." Meanwhile, a
poster at Forumopolis who claims to be directly involved with the
Kane & Lynch ad campaign says that the whole thing is just a matter of bad timing. "I sincerely doubt that Eidos made Gamespot fire him," the poster writes. "CNET doesn't kowtow to its advertisers, and I've more than once seen the higher-ups turn away big advertising dollars for the sake of the company's integrity." Make of this what you will.
Update - 10:44 AM EST: Gamespot PR representative Leslie Van Every has responded to Joystiq's request for comment with ... a predictable 'no comment.' "It is CNET Networks' policy to never comment on individual employees--current or former--regarding their job status," Van Every told Joystiq. "This policy is in place out of respect for the individuals' privacy."
Update - 7:12 AM EST: Jeff has confirmed his firing to us via e-mail, but says he's "not really able to comment on the specifics of my termination." He added that he's "looking forward to getting back out there and figuring out what's next." We're still digging.
Update - 1:35 AM EST: The
Kane and Lynch ads that blanketed Gamespot's front page are no longer being shown. Check out the picture above to see what the site looked at just an hour ago.
Original Post:So before we get going, we should make it clear that this post is still just a rumor and many of the facts behind it are still up in the air. That being said, word around game journalism's virtual water cooler is that Gamespot Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann has been fired because publisher Eidos was unhappy about his negative review of
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.
What seems in little dispute, going by forum chatter as well as multiple published sources (referencing conversations with multiple CNet employees), is that Gerstmann has indeed been fired after over ten years working at the site. We were not immediately able to confirm the firing with Gamespot or Gerstmann directly, but an e-mail sent to his Gamespot address did get returned with a "permanent failure" error. Seems pretty serious to us ... (see 7:12 AM update above)