Bad Review + Advertiser Pressure = Editor Firing? It May at Gamespot.

An intriguing story popped up all over the gaming world last night broken by Shack News. It appears that Gamespot executive editor Jeff Gerstmann was fired after handing Kane & Lynch a 6.0 score. Apparently the language was pretty stark but the review has been pulled as of this writing.

Gerstmann awarded the game a 6.0. [Edit: Gerstmann had particularly negative words in his video review, which was removed from the site by GameSpot today.] (Though Shacknews does not score its reviews, our own Kane & Lynch review was similar in its verdict.)

According to the reports, the layoff came after Kane & Lynch publisher Eidos took issue with the review and threatened to pull its considerable ad contract. GameSpot's front page is currently almost entirely re-skinned with Kane & Lynch imagery.

The rumor began bouncing around various industry circles over the past day, and this evening was reported by Kotaku. Popular webcomic Penny Arcade posted a strip about the alleged incident tonight, outside of its normal publishing schedule.

It is distressing to read such things since the general impression of major gaming sites and their reviews is not a positive one. Read the rest of the article at Shack News.