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Return to Kane & Lynch
iVirtua Community (UK) has learned that GameSpot's US reviews editor has left CNET Networks following an incident involving the site's recent Kane &Lynch review.
A source close to the editorial team has revealed that the row focused on the tone of the content of the original review, which was apparently subsequently altered.
The game scored 6 out of 10, and although it's unclear how the text of the review may have changed from its original format, it's not thought that the score was altered.
GameSpot reviews are regularly submitted to the wider editorial team for quality and accuracy reasons, and small changes can be made at this point before the article is published.
Rumours elsewherecited possible reasons for the editorial changes as being the result of pressure from the Kane & Lynch publisher Eidos, which had marketed the game on the site.
GamesIndistry wrote:
The source revealed that members of the editorial team were extremely disappointed by the incident.
Gerstmann had been with GameSpot for 11 years, and was part of the team - which included Greg Kasavin, now at EA - who drove the site's core values of editorial excellence and independence over that time.
As well as heading up the reviews team, he also hosted weekly video show On The Spot, and wrote the music to several of the site's audio or video publications, including the GameSpot UK podcast.
CNET representatives have so far declined to comment on Gerstmann's departure, and the precise circumstances - whether or not he left of his own accord - have not been disclosed.
Tim Tracy, former head of video at the company, has also departed, although it's not clear at this time whether or not the two are linked.
Jeff Gerstmann: Fired for being honest
According to the source, Gerstmann was fired "on the spot" due to advertiser pressure for his review of Eidos' Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. A visit to Gamespot shows that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game has taken over the site very prominently, with backgrounds and multiple banner ads all pitching Kane & Lynch. Allegedly, publisher Eidos "took issue with the review and threatened to pull its ad campaign."
Jeff's review was certainly less than glowing. He assigned the game a 6.0, otherwise known as "Fair" on the Gamespot scale. The game is currently enjoying a Metacritic score in the 65 to 69 range, which the site describes as "mixed or average reviews." According to our tipster, it wasn't necessarily the score that was reason for Gerstmann's rumored axing, but the "tone" of the review.
Gerstmann has been no stranger to controversial reviews, as his scores of 10 for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 8.8 for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess had sensitive internet users up in arms. It's now possible that many bitter fanboys may have had their wishes for his firing granted.
[QUOTE=Kontaku"]As our tipster points out, if the rumor is true, it could point to a distressing precedent at Gamespot and parent company CNet. "As writers of what is supposed to be objective content, this is our worst nightmare coming to life," wrote the tipster.
Our efforts to confirm the story with Gamespot haven't proved successful. Our current requests with PR, Gerstmann and other CNet contacts have either gone unanswered or yielded a "no comment."[/QUOTE]
Gamespot Editor says CNET Firing a "Disaster" valleywag.com — GameSpot editor Alex Navarro on the state of CNET after the tech publisher fired his colleague Jeff Gerstmann, editorial director of the videogame-reviews site, on still-unexplained grounds.
Gamespot Responds, Via In-Depth Q&A, to Gerstmann Firings gamespot.com — SPECIAL REPORT: Following days of controversy and the first post-Jeff podcast, GameSpot answers burning questions about the most controversial staff change in its history.
And now...
Gerstmann was terminated just as his video review of Eidos' Kane & Lynch game was taken down. At the same time, the text of his review of the game was altered, and the Kane & Lynch ad campaign featured prominently on the site - only to be removed shortly thereafter.
These circumstances led to rumours that Gerstmann was terminated due to pressure from Eidos over his unfavourable review.
GameSpot cited legal restrictions and corporate HR policy as reasons for not initially commenting upon Gerstmann's departure. However, the site has now published a lengthy response from its management.
The site has indicated that it cannot provide the exact reasons behind Gerstmann's dismissal due to legalities, but said that he was terminated following an internal review process by the managerial team to which he reported. GameSpot said the issues were "unrelated to any publisher or advertiser."
As to why the video review was removed, GameSpot said that they had quality concerns specifically due to a faulty microphone, not to mention a limited amount of footage.
In the spirit of "full disclosure," the video has since been reposted and is viewable on the site in its original form.
Gamespot Interview:
According to GameSpot, the Kane & Lynch review text was altered because "Jeff's supervisors and select members of the edit team felt the review's negativity did not match its "fair" 6.0 rating." The copy was adjusted several days after its publication so that it better meshed with its score, which remained unchanged.
Finally, GameSpot said that the timing of the ad campaign, which was purchased weeks in advance based upon the game's release date, was "extremely unfortunate but was purely coincidental..." The end of the promotion had been predetermined well in advance and had nothing to do with the Gerstmann controversy heating up.
The site admitted that Eidos representatives
Quote:
"expressed their displeasure to their appropriate contacts, but not to editorial directly."
Quote:
"It was not the first time a publisher has voiced disappointment with a game review, and it won't be the last," GameSpot said in their statement.
Quote:
"However, it is strict GameSpot policy never to let any such feelings result in a review score to be altered or a video review to be pulled."
GameSpot categorically denied that Gerstmann's firing, the alteration of the Kane & Lynch review text, or the removal of the video review had anything to do with Eidos' disappointment.
Quote:
"This article is one of the first steps toward restoring users' faith in GameSpot, and an internal review of the incident and controversy is under way. However, at no point in its history has GameSpot ever deviated from its review guidelines, which are publicly listed on the site.
"Great pains are taken to keep sales and editorial separated to prevent any impression of impropriety."
One of the most common conversations that occurs when game writers get together to drink (and we all drink, since we mostly hang out at trade shows, and when Sony's pouring, are you going to say no?) is who likes you, who you're on the outs with, who is easy to deal with... the standard issues of working with so much pressure from your sources of review samples and quotes. Pressure is a part of the game, and the good writers, the ones with integrity, know that it's a roller coaster. You annoy some people, but they come back to you in the end. It's a matter of riding it out. You just have to make sure they need you more than you need them.
Game writers at certain sites and gaming magazines get a hunted, terrified look during these conversations, and I've found that writers at mainstream newspapers and magazines enjoy discussing these issues. Publishers need such writers to spread the word about a game to the masses, and they can't threaten to pull advertising, because odds are they don't plan on advertising heavily in these places. When you need someone to keep you in business, they have power over you. There is no simpler concept.
Arstechnica wrote:
Everyone in the gaming press who writes for a site that relies on gaming advertisements is in the opposite situation. They face obvious pressure to be political with coverage, and the advertisers have some very big carrots to dangle in front of the editorial staff at such places. Nothing is free: not exclusive previews, not first-run screenshots, and certainly not flights into space.
The reason this issue came up at GameSpot was simple: the site allows one company to blanket GameSpot when a new game is released. When one title occupies every ad spot on your site and also features a launch center, trailers, and anything else you can think to sell, the game's makers have too much control over what writers say. After all, at that stage, it's their site. They paid for it, it's covered with their intellectual property, and it's by their graces that you're still in operation. It may very well be that GameSpot let Gerstmann go for reasons not directly connected to the Kane & Lynch review (and in a statement released late last night, the company said that was the case), but the timing of his release raises questions—while providing a disconcerting look into the world of gaming journalism.
CNET, Gamespot and Jeff Gerstmann: Controversy or conspiracy theory?
strange.corante.com
Quote:
On Wednesday, I spotted a post from Michael O'Connor Clarke about Jeff Gerstmann, a games reviewer and Editorial Director at CNET's Gamespot, who appeared to have been fired for giving a bad review to Kane & Lynch.The game's publishers, Eidos Interactive, had just bought hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of advertising on the site and the rumour was that they used the weight of that contract to force CNET to fire Gerstmann. It seems the news was broken in this Penny Arcade strip.
Gamespot insiders were clearlyunhappy with what has happened.
Eventually, Gamespot management did address the issue,although they maintain they are legally unable to discuss why Gerstmann was fired, the categorically deny that it was because of pressure from Eidos.
Quote:
Q: Was Jeff fired?A: Jeff was terminated on November 28, 2007, following an internal review process by the managerial team to which he reported.
Q: Why was Jeff fired?
A: Legally, the exact reasons behind his dismissal cannot be revealed.However, they stemmed from issues unrelated to any publisher or advertiser; his departure was due purely for internal reasons.
[...]
Q: Was Eidos Interactive upset by the game's review?
A: It has been confirmed that Eidos representatives expressed their displeasure to their appropriate contacts at GameSpot, but not to editorial directly. It was not the first time a publisher has voiced disappointment with a game review, and it won't be the last. However,it is strict GameSpot policy never to let any such feelings result in a review score to be altered or a video review to be pulled.
Q: Did Eidos' disappointment cause Jeff to be terminated?
A: Absolutely not.
Q: Did Eidos' disappointment cause the alteration of the review text?
A: Absolutely not.
Q: Did Eidos' disappointment lead to the video review being pulled down?
A: Absolutely not.
[...]
Q: Why didn't GameSpot write about Jeff's departure sooner?
A: Due to HR procedures and legal considerations, unauthorized CNET Networks and GameSpot employees are forbidden from commenting on the employment status of current and former employees. This practice has been in effect for years, and the CNET public-relations department stuck to that in the days following Jeff's termination. However, the company is now making an exception due to the widespread misinformation that has spread since Jeff's departure.
[...]
Q: GameSpot's credibility has been called into question as a result of this incident. What is being done to repair and rebuild it?
A: This article is one of the first steps toward restoring users' faith in GameSpot, and an internal review of the incident and controversy is under way. However, at no point in its history has GameSpot ever deviated from its review guidelines, which are publicly listed on the site. Great pains are taken to keep sales and editorial separated to prevent any impression of impropriety.
For years, GameSpot has been known for maintaining the hig hestethical standards and having the most reliable and informative game reviews, previews, and news on the Web. The colleagues and friends that Jeff leaves behind here at GameSpot intend to keep it that way.
The problem is, the damage has been done. Whatever the reason for Gerstmann's dismissal, the appalling way that CNET handled the crisis means that a lot of people now believe that the Chinese wall that separates advertising and editorial has been permanently damaged. That in and of itself means that both Gamespot's and CNET's credibility has been severely dented and if there's one thing that a publisher cannot afford to do, it's to appear even for a moment to be in the pockets of its advertisers. Readers want impartiality, honesty, transparency, and if they sniff a rat they'll leave in droves.
CNET should never have fired Gerstmann without thoroughly thinking through the implications of such a precipitate dismissal. Doing so without a strategy in place for addressing the inevitable rumour that would follow was stupid and short-sighted. In any company, that sort of"marching off the premises" style of dismissal is bound to cause a rumpus, especially when the person being fired, as Gerstmann appears to have been, is much loved by their colleagues and readers, and has been there for so long. It shouldn't have taken a genius to realise that there'd be a pretty strong reaction against it, and that some sort ofthought should be given to how to address the rumours early on.
Whether Gerstmann was fired because of Larson, or Eidos, or something else, is almost irrelevant now. The conclusions one can draw are that either CNET's in bed with its advertisers, or it's being managed incompetently by someone prone to throwing hissy fits and firing people on the spot. If one were being generous, one might just put this down to an HR/PR fuck-up, but there is a valuable lesson to be learnt by every publisher and every company with externally-facing bloggers: Look before you fire.
One of the team members who worked on the Kane & Lynch ads for GameSpot says that the timing of editorial director Jeff Gerstmann's departure is a case of coincidence, not cause and effect.
The internet was rife with rumors Thursday that Gerstmann had been let go after giving Kane & Lynch: Dead Men a relatively low review score, which angered GameSpot advertiser Eidos. The video review has been removed from GameSpot, but you can see it here.
Jeff Gerstmann, recently fired from his position as editorial director at GameSpot, stands behind the his review of Kane & Lynch, rumoured to be the the impetus behind his termination.
Gerstmann told Joystiq,"I stand behind my work, regardless of where I do it," and attempted to put to rest rumours that he hadn't actually played much of the game before reviewing it.
Some of Game|Life's own readers pointed to the fact that Gerstmann's gamertag only showed one Kane & Lynch achievement, but he cautions using that as any kind of completion metric, saying "For the record, I saw both endings in Kane & Lynch before writing about it."
Despite his position at the centre of such intense drama, Gerstmann still feels fairly positive about game journalism in general, saying"Despite the number of people who are taking these rumours...to mean that game writing is ethically bankrupt, I don't feel that's the case."
Citing "legal reasons," Gerstmann begged off providing details about his departure from GameSpot.
Exclusive: Gerstmann speaks about K&L review, future [Joystiq]
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