12 Controversial Video Game Scandals That Rocked The Industry

3. Jeff Gerstmann And The Destruction Of Gamespot

If at any point after the GamerGate scandal, you wanted proof of what can happen when a reviewer really says what they think, look to Jeff Gerstmann's unprofessional firing during the 2007 release period for Kane & Lynch.

The act all but ruined Gamespot's reputation simply because of how beloved and treasured Gerstmann was as part of their team, and called into question the initial connection between paid advertisements on a given website, versus any relative editorial content.

It would take years of silence on Gerstmann's part as he instead founded Giantbomb, and was sworn to contractual secrecy as to why he was let go, but a collaborative video with Gamespot in 2012 finally spilled the beans.

Gerstmann was able to let the world know that he had been fired directly over coverage of Kane & Lynch, which thanks to his 'low' 6/10 score and a fairly 'rant'-like video review, it all led to a new boss at Gamespot accessing this coverage in relation to a premium ad package the company had set up with the game's PR firm.

It literally boiled down to this new boss "panicking" about the look of a site that was advertising the same game they were harshly criticising, and Gerstmann bore the brunt of a reactionary decision. It irrevocably changed Gamespot as the cultural arbiters of games journalism, and you can argue they've never truly recovered.