Jeff Gerstmann fired for giving Kane & Lynch a bad review

Quote :

Where do you go to get your reliable reviews?

We're sure you remember the fiasco: Jeff Gerstmann leaving GameSpot under suspicious circumstances after posting a less-than-favorable Kane & Lynch review, a game that received a lot of advertising and promotion at GameSpot's website.

After he left, there was quite the exodus, as a number of GameSpot employees left. The general consensus was that Gerstmann had been fired for not playing ball; i.e., the site was given a lot of advertising revenue for Kane & Lynch, and the publisher expected a good review in return. Leaked information from other former staffers pseudo-confirmed this, although Gerstmann has never spoken about it since leaving and forming Giant Bomb.

That has all changed now, though: In an interview with GameSpot's John Davison, Gerstmann confirmed why he was fired. He said he was called into a room by CBS management (who owns GameSpot), and they told him he was terminated because apparently, he "couldn't be trusted" as the editorial director. Evidently, this decision came about specifically due to his Kane & Lynch review. Gerstmann also gave the example of how Sony threatened to pull ad money if Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction earned anything less than a perfect score. GameSpot gave it a 7.5, but we didn't hear anything after that.

Bottom line? Websites are businesses. Especially big websites. They're free to read so their only revenue comes from ads, and big-money ads can often come from game publishers...who just might expect a little something in return besides the advertising space. It's a tough world.

Source: PSX

Kane & Lynch was absolute dogshit. I don't disagree with him giving it a bad review.

Old news is Old.

Chobo wrote:

Old news is Old.

Did you even read the article?

Mecha wrote:

Chobo wrote:

Old news is Old.

Did you even read the article?

You and the article are 5 years late to the party.

Padders wrote:

Mecha wrote:

Chobo wrote:

Old news is Old.

Did you even read the article?

You and the article are 5 years late to the party.

Dude, the article is about him speaking for the first time since leaving GameSpot, and confirming all the rumors. The article is even aware how old the news on Jeff Gerstmann being fired is. I swear it's like you guys just read the title and don't bother reading the article.

Mecha wrote:

Padders wrote:

Mecha wrote:

Chobo wrote:

Old news is Old.

Did you even read the article?

You and the article are 5 years late to the party.

Dude, the article is about him speaking for the first time since leaving GameSpot, and confirming all the rumors. The article is even aware how old the news on Jeff Gerstmann being fired is. I swear it's like you guys just read the title and don't bother reading the article.

Publishers paying for reviews or threaten to pull out their support on gaming websites. Writers and editors getting fired because they gave a game bad review score. Behind the scenes agreements. We already knew that this sort of shit happens for years Mecha, have you been living under a rock or just only got into gaming this generation? It is a business after all.

Padders wrote:

Mecha wrote:

Padders wrote:

Mecha wrote:

Chobo wrote:

Old news is Old.

Did you even read the article?

You and the article are 5 years late to the party.

Dude, the article is about him speaking for the first time since leaving GameSpot, and confirming all the rumors. The article is even aware how old the news on Jeff Gerstmann being fired is. I swear it's like you guys just read the title and don't bother reading the article.

Publishers paying for reviews or threaten to pull out their support on gaming websites. Writers and editors getting fired because they gave a game bad review score. Behind the scenes agreements. We already knew that this sort of shit happens for years Mecha, have you been living under a rock or just only got into gaming this generation? It is a business after all.

Well excuse me for posting news on what goes on in the gaming industry.

Get off of Mecha's back. The article is about Jeff Gerstmann confirming why he was fired. So now we can be completely sure. I see nothing wrong with that.

I have no issue with posting the article, but I do have an issue with the misleading title. It should read "Jeff Gerstmann on being fired" or something along those lines.