Gerstmann gave the game a poor score (6/10) and a review to go with it. In the mean time, Kane & Lynch was heavily advertised on GameSpot. In the end, most of the ads were gone, but so was the reviewer, thus turning on the rumor mill.

GameSpot’s official statement on the matter claims that the reviewer was not fired because of his critical article. The reasons lie somewhere else and won’t be disclosed to the public “due to legal constraints and the company policy of GameSpot parent CNET Networks”.

"Neither CNET Networks nor GameSpot has ever allowed its advertising business to affect its editorial content," said Greg Brannan, CNET Networks Entertainment’s vice president of programming. "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."

So sayest GameSpot, so it must be true, right? I mean, you do believe them, don’t you? After all, it makes perfect sense to leave your job after eleven years, and the scandal in which you are one the star figure has nothing to do with it.