If you subscribe to GameSpot.com's Weekly Xbox 360 Newsletter, you may have noticed yesterday's absence of Jeff Gerstmann, Editorial Director. Reports from various sites are saying the long time (11 year) staff member at GameSpot lost his job over his 6.0 review score in the recently released Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. It's unclear whether he left after being pressured to alter the review or was fired as a result of Eidos, publisher of the game, withdrawing online ads from GameSpot.com.

There's much discussion on it over at the NeoGAF forums. Forums at GameSpot are flooded with protest, while Eidos has shut down posting on its forums. Shame, shame. Is a GameSpot fallout or imploding underway? More details as they emerge...

UPDATE: Gerstmann's video review, also rumored to be part of the whole fallout, is posted below. The video, removed from GameSpot, is recovered by GameTrailers.com's posting.

UPDATE 12/1/07: Gotta love Destructoid's parody site of GameSpot, Cashwh0re.com.

UPDATE 12/3/07: 1up.com stages a protest in support of game reviewers outside of GameSpot.com offices. See pictures here. Joystiq.com interviews Jeff Gerstmann here.

UPDATE 12/4/07: GameSpot has posted a public statement on the "departure" of Gerstmann. CNET Networks Entertainment's vice president of programming, Greg Brannan stated: "Neither CNET Networks nor GameSpot has ever allowed its advertising business to affect its editorial content. The accusations in the media that it has done so are unsubstantiated and untrue. Jeff's departure stemmed from internal reasons unrelated to any buyer of advertising on GameSpot." Makes you wonder how Kane & Lynch ended up in GameSpot's Holiday Gift Guide.

GamesIndustry.biz and Wired's Game|Life, to name a couple of many!

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