As you may have heard by now, former editor Jeff Gerstmann was let go from his long-standing job at GameSpot this past Thursday. While the specific reason for his release has yet to be officially confirmed (and probably never will be), everything seems to indicate that he was fired due to the "tone" of his Kane and Lynch review. Given the rumor of Eidos' threats to cease future advertising on the site and numerous staff blog posts describing the situation as a total nightmare, it seems that there is some degree of truth to all of the speculation. And if that's the case, parent company CNET has effectively destroyed their credibility as a reputable review source.

I've been a long time reader of GameSpot, since back when they were called videogames.com. Over the years, they evolved into what I considered to be the best and most professional corporately owned video game publication on the internet. Many of my gaming purchases were based on GameSpot's reviews, specifically those of Greg Kasavin (who now works for EA) and Jeff himself. Hell, I've even adapted a few of their concepts into Game Positive. It's extremely disheartening to see this legacy tarnished due to what can only be called a corporate blunder of massive proportions.

The culprit that allegedly started it all.

However, CNET's decision making isn't the only problem here. It's no secret that the publisher/press relationship is an almost broken one. A quick chat with someone in the industry or a search in Google will yield quite a few instances where publishers have attempted to (mostly unsuccessfully) exert control and manipulate review scores to their benefit. Part of what makes this incident so shocking is the fact that GameSpot was widely known for its unwillingness to succumb to such demands, as they kept a strict barrier between money making and editorial integrity. I can speak from personal experience that when it comes to dealing with any of the top-tier publishers, it's not only difficult to establish a professional relationship, but even harder to maintain one if you don't easily conform to their will. Until the industry realizes that this needs to change, it can only get worse from here.

It's going to be interesting to see if the fallout from this whole debacle has any lasting impact outside of the companies involved. Virtually all of the previous instances where integrity in this industry was legitimately questioned have been forgotten, so here's to hoping that something positive emerges from the rubble. On a more personal note, it's hard not to feel for all of the innocent parties affected by this situation and I would like to offer Jeff and the rest of the GameSpot crew best wishes through what has to be an extremely difficult time.