10 years since Jeff Gerstmann was fired from GameSpot

[funky]

Its been 10 years since that mess.

He was fired on the 28th November 2007
Penny Arcade posted the comic above on the 29th
And the official announcement was on the 30th

No better explination of what happened then the video made when CBS/Gamespot bought GiantBomb. Jeff and John Davison sat down and laid out what happened.




TLDR

• In 2007 GameSpot saw a big shakeup in management from both the editorial and the business side. Jeff was the new EiC.
• The new business suits didnt have a clue what they where doing
• New businessman got angsty at the idea of publishers pulling ad money over negative coverage
• After 1 too many publishers shaking their fists, Kane and Lynch became the straw that broke the camels back and Jeff was brought into a room and fired.
• What followed over the following months was a mass exodus of pretty much all the talent that made GameSpot what it was back in the early / mid 00's (although a few remained for years)

Not soon after that, most of the suits that dropped the ball left, CBS eventually bought the CNET family of sites and everything became full circle when Whiskey Media fulfilled the SanFan start up dream of cashing out, Giant Bomb was sold to CBS and they moved back into the old gamespot offices.


Any thoughts?

Was introduced to GameSpot in 2006 soon after we got broadband and I remember the entire thing being a real mess. Mostly everything worked out for everyone in the end.


Some random

On The Spot paying tribute to Jeff (feeling like the dude died or something)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx_IFGmk2zg

What to Say. A blog post by Ryan Davis soon after the events.

https://www.gamespot.com/profile/Ryan/blog/what-to-say/25235387/

Spoiler

ITS BEEN 10 YEARS. FUCK.

 

[Deleted member 2321]

I feel old.

I shall watch the how to build a bomb videos again soon.

Jeff is a legend.

Rip Ryan.

 

[Courage]

lowkey the best thing that happened in this industry. gave us Giant Bomb.

 

[Shelbyville Milhouse]

10 years later, Jeff Gerstmann is still a threat

 

[Equirah]

Okay

 

[shnurgleton]

lowkey the best thing to happen to this industry. gave us Giant Bomb.

Click to shrink...

To think before GB all I looked at was IGN

A shining beacon in the games press space

 

[KZXcellent]

Since this lead to GiantBomb I think it turned out okay.

 

[Mesoian]

Was watching the Giant Bombcast preshow, everyone from both offices are at the table.

Feels like home.

Times have changed, and new establishments have come and gone, but Giant Bomb is all I really need for this stuff.

 

[Falconbox]

I had been following Gamespot since the early 00s. My favorite reviews were always by Greg Kasavin (who later went on to form Supergiant Games and make Bastion & Transistor).

I kind of stopped paying attention to the site though before Gerstmann came on, so I missed all this initially and only learned about it years later. Never really cared for Giant Bomb though.

Sucks that this one incident is what people always want to point to when they say "sites are paid for good reviews!"

 

[chandoog]

lowkey the best thing that happened in this industry. gave us Giant Bomb.

Click to shrink...

Yep, seems like a terrible thing to say but it led to the creation of arguably one of the best video game related website of the last decade.

 

[Deleted member 2145]

lowkey the best thing that happened in this industry. gave us Giant Bomb.

Click to shrink...

yep pretty much

 

[Border]

I always feel awkward whenever Kane & Lynch somehow gets mentioned on the Bombcast.

 

[Cocolina]

Jeff is one of my favourite video game journalists.

 

[Izanagi89]

Thanks Kane & Lynch for giving us Giantbomb.

 

[Dynamite Cop]

I remember being in the same hotel elevator as him during E3 2012. I didn't want to say anything to embarrass myself, so I kept quiet. I think the Giant Bomb guys were about to hop on a party bus. But anyway, him being fired is one of those examples of a door closing, but having a much bigger one opening up.

 

[shnurgleton]

Jeff is one of my favourite video game journalists.

Click to shrink...

He is by far my favorite Trending Gamer

 

[Witness]

I remember listening to the GFW Radio podcast right after this happening with them talking about this.

 

[Owlowiscious]

Happy... Anniversary....?

Oh well I love giant bomb so lemons and lemonade

 

[Deleted member 15497]

Jeff Gerstmann is still a threat.

 

[CommodoreKong]

lowkey the best thing that happened in this industry. gave us Giant Bomb.

Click to shrink...

Yep it all worked out in the end.


This whole saga also makes me think of the Rooster Teeth Fallout 4 saga where they accuse Gerstmann of intentionally lowering his review score to get attention while surrounded by Fallout 4 merchandise they got from Bethesda and the massive backlash they got for that.

 

[DSP]

I remember first time watching the video review, "K&L is an ugly UGLY game". it feels like forever ago.

 

[Jmille99]

As someone who didnt follow games media back then, i had no clue who Jeff was until I discovered Giant Bomb shortly after Vinnie and Brad came aboard (iirc).

As much as im sure it sucked at the time, I would like to think that may have been one of the best things to happen to him considering what he has accomplished since. I wonder what the industry would look like if that never happened, because I feel like his impact and vision helped mold it into what it is today.

 

[Twookie]

lowkey the best thing that happened in this industry. gave us Giant Bomb.

Click to shrink...

haha yeah

 

[FreshPots]

Remember it like yesterday! Early to mid 00's era Gamespot really was the catalyst for online personalities. They were so ahead of the game

 

[ryushe]

lowkey the best thing that happened in this industry. gave us Giant Bomb.

Click to shrink...

Absolutely. Hell, kind of personality based coverage as well.

 

[JaketheSnake]

Time flies...

I still remember the old arrow pointing down podcasts that were like 75% random energy drink tastings. Good times ☺

 

[scare_crow]

That was quite the time. Makes me miss the college days.

Also, Jeff almost seems like he has life left in him in those videos. Everything I've seen on GB just seems hyper-cynical and jaded.

 

[Aselith]

I always feel awkward whenever Kane & Lynch somehow gets mentioned on the Bombcast.

Click to shrink...

Eh, Jeff seems perfectly comfortable with it and it wasn't the game that did it. It was the publisher. Clearly, he didn't hold a grudge since he was happy to give IO a GOTY when they did good.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Wow, I had no idea that they were re-purchased by Gamestop after all the toxic execs left. I just assumed Giant Bomb was it's own independent thing (although I don't follow them really)

 

[Velezcora]

Wow I had no idea Giant Bomb got bought out by Gamespot. Can't say I remember much of the whole fiasco. I loved and use Gamespot all the time back in the early 2000s. It was where I discovered video reviews for the first time which was an insanely cool thing back then. Being able to access screenshots was nice but seeing the game in motion before you bought it was just... so good...
I must have missed the whole Kane & Lynch thing since I heard about it a year later. By 2007 I was already moving towards Youtube for my gaming content. Was never interested in Kane & Lynch either so never watched the video.

 

[NuclearCake]

Honestly after Greg left the site was already starting to go downhill, this was just the final nail that killed it for me. Luckily GiantBomb was just around the corner.

 

[-shadow-]

 

[Confused Cheeseburger]

Man has it really been 10 years?
I remember paying attention to this in high school as the reason to distrust gamespot.

 

[真棒!]

After all of it, I believed he enjoyed Kane and Lynch 2. Good game.

 

[Coldman]

In hindsight, it's probably the best thing that could have happened to him.

 

[Deleted member 28815]

Wow time flies. This was exactly when I stopped visiting the big gaming sites and caring about review scores. All for the better I think.

 

[Bizzquik]

10 years since Jeff won.
And he's still winning; does whatever he wants with Giant Bomb - his own kingdom, with near-limitless street-cred.
Congrats.

 

[BigTaffy]

Never really cared for Giant Bomb though.

Click to shrink...

What? How dare you!

Spoiler

I don't really like them either.

 

[TitanicFall]

Jeff doesn't like Yoshi's Island, the best 2D Mario game ever made, so I say he deserved it. However it's nice to know the firing didn't keep him down.

 

[Ravelle]

Started following Giant Bomb around 2010 and learned about the whole K&L thing afterward, a shitty thing at that moment but it gave birth to something better.

 

[EMBee99]

Real talk - I miss the basement office.

 

[Carfo]

him getting fired was the best thing that happened to him, he's a star on GB. Also, RIP Ryan Davis. I'm still sad about that.

 

[OnionPowder]

lowkey the best thing that happened in this industry. gave us Giant Bomb.

Click to shrink...

Yup

 

[Strangelove_77]

I only started listening to the Giantbomb podcast about a year ago. I kind of wish I had been around for all this drama. Seems crazy.

 

[Panther2103]

I love Giant Bomb. I watched their content for a while, and then the Beastcast got me into listening to Podcasts, I hadn't ever touched one before that, then I got into the Bombcast and it took off from there. I love all of their content and hope they can continue to make it as long as they want to.

 

[GoldenKings]

Jeff Gerstmann, Geoff Keighley, and Adam Sessler were the holy trinity of games journalists from me growing up.

 

[NinjaScooter]

This led to Giant Bomb which led to Dan Ryckert.

 

[Abdulrahman]

I always remember his "earth shattering" review of Zelda TP.

 

[Rush_Khan]

Tbh, it feels like this happened more than 10 years ago.

 

[chaobreaker]

Its still cool to think how fast Jeff bounced back after getting fired. Make a huge network of gaming personalities years before it became the norm on YouTube.