Game Reviewer WAS Fired Over That Shitty Kane & Lynch Score
Journey back with me, my friends. Let us ride the collective unconscious back into the fleeting moments of 2007. It was then that Jeff Gerstmann was fired from GameSpot. It was then!, that rumors and allegations came out that it was because he wouldn’t kiss the grimy ass of Kane & Lynch. Now let us come back to the present. March, 2012. It is now, some 4+ years later, that the rumor is confirmed.
Kotaku:
Back in 2007, GameSpot writer Jeff Gerstmann left the site under suspicious circumstances. It was heavily rumoured at the time that his departure was the result of pressure from a games publisher over a negative review of Kane & Lynch.
Well, five years later, we finally have confirmation, of a sort, this indeed is what took place.
As part of a recent deal that’s seen Gerstmann’s current employer Giant Bomb purchased by CBS Interactive (who also own GameSpot, his former employer), some full disclosure was needed from both parties as to what, exactly, went down that day five years ago.
So disclose Gerstmann has, confirming with GameSpot’s Jon Davison that after a succession of challenges with management and advertisers he was “called into a room” and “terminated” because he “couldn’t be trusted” as editorial director (ie, in charge of reviews), kicking off one of the saddest and sorriest episodes in an often sad and sorry relationship between games writers and games publishers.
Dude and crew get canned from GameSpot. Found their own company. Get purchased by parent company of their previous employer. I call that winning in the long run.