GameSpot talks Gerstmann, says Eidos did not cause termination

Earlier today, GameSpot released a Q&A regarding Jeff Gerstmann’s controversial termination, denying rumors that point at Eidos Interactive and the Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PC) review which could’ve disappointed the publisher. The video game website still gave a solid “the exact reasons behind his dismissal cannot be revealed” statement, but shed light on other questions.

Details await at the full article!

It only took a few days before gamers and journalists alike expressed their disapproval over GameSpot firing industry veteran Jeff Gerstmann for reasons undisclosed. After a few days of being silent, GameSpot finally released a Q&A to address many inquiries regarding the incident.

The prominent video game website still wasn’t able to say why Gerstmann was fired because of legal reasons, but stressed out that publisher Eidos Interactive and the review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PC) were not related.

Aside from firmly stating “his departure was due purely for internal reasons,” GameSpot explained the reports pertaining to alteration of Gerstmann’s Kane & Lynch review, saying “Jeff’s supervisors and select members of the edit team felt the review’s negativity did not match its ‘fair’ 6.0 rating.”

To answer the questions about Eidos putting pressure on the gaming website because of the negative review, Gamespot replied:

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.

Other queries asking if Eidos’ disappointment caused Jeff’s termination, alteration of the review text, and the video review being pulled down, were met with “absolutely not.” According to GameSpot, the video review was taken off the site’s pages because of inferior quality due to a faulty microphone.