Jeff Gerstmann
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Jeff Gerstmann (born August 1, 1975) is an American
video game journalist Video game journalism is a branch of journalism concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games, typically based on a core "reveal–preview–review" cycle. With the prevalence and rise of independent media online, online publicati ...
. Former editorial director of the gaming website ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' and the co-founder/editor of the gaming website ''
Giant Bomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time'' mag ...
'', Gerstmann began working at ''GameSpot'' in the fall of 1996, around the launch of VideoGameSpot when ''GameSpot'' split PC and console games into separate areas. He shared his thoughts on a variety of other subjects every Monday on his ''GameSpot'' blog before his controversial dismissal from ''GameSpot'' in 2007 following a review of '' Kane & Lynch: Dead Men''. In 2012, ''Complex'' magazine named Gerstmann in their top 25 biggest celebrities in the video game industry.


Career

Gerstmann began work in video game journalism in the early 1990s, having been involved with the game industry since age 17 doing freelance work as well as working for a print magazine for under a year. He was hired as an intern for ''GameSpot'' in 1996, eventually becoming editorial director. Gerstmann appeared in a segment on ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
'' with
Diane Sawyer Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', '' Good Morning America'', ''20/20'', and '' Primetime'' newsmag ...
and
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
product analyst Dennis Lee in September 1999 to talk about the release of the Sega
Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...
, playing
NFL 2K ''NFL 2K'' is an American football video game series developed by Visual Concepts and published by Sega. The series was originally exclusive to Sega's Dreamcast video game console due to the absence of EA Sports's Madden NFL series on the sy ...
and
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing ''Ready 2 Rumble Boxing'' is a boxing video game developed by Midway Studios San Diego, published by Midway Games in 1999 for the Dreamcast, PlayStation, Game Boy Color, and Nintendo 64. The success of the Dreamcast version led to it becoming one ...
, notable for the Dreamcast crashing while live on national television in one of its first TV demonstrations. Gerstmann personally notes in an episode of the ''Giant Bombcast'' that he believes his appearance on the show wearing a
FUBU FUBU (, ) is an American hip hop apparel company. FUBU stands for "For Us, By Us" and was created when the founders were brainstorming for a catchy four-letter word following other big brands such as Nike and Coke.Keith Perrin interviewed by Ian ...
Jersey contributed to the clothing company's fall from popularity. The segment was also notable for the Sega product analyst's many falsehoods, stating "You can actually see the snow slowly blanketing the ground, as the game goes on, the snow will blanket the field" features which were not present in the product.


Termination from GameSpot (2007–2008)

Gerstmann was dismissed from his position at ''GameSpot'' as Editorial Director on November 28, 2007. Immediately after his termination, rumors circulated proclaiming his dismissal was a result of external pressure from
Eidos Interactive Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...
, the publisher of '' Kane & Lynch: Dead Men'', which Gerstmann had previously given a ''Fair'' rating, which is relatively undesirable, along with critique. This was at a time when Eidos had been putting heavy advertising money into ''GameSpot'', transforming the entire website to use a ''Kane & Lynch'' theme and background instead of the regular ''GameSpot'' layout. In accordance with California state law and CNET Networks policy, ''GameSpot'' could not give details as to why Gerstmann was terminated. Both ''GameSpot'' and parent company
CNET ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
stated that his dismissal was unrelated to the negative review. However, a subsequent interview with Gerstmann in 2012 countered this statement, with Gerstmann claiming that management gave in to publisher pressure. Following Gerstmann's termination, editors Alex Navarro, Ryan Davis, Brad Shoemaker, and Vinny Caravella left ''GameSpot'', feeling that they could no longer work for a publication that was perceived as having caved in to advertiser pressure. In 2012, when
CBS Interactive Paramount Streaming (formerly CBS Digital Media Group, CBS Interactive, ViacomCBS Streaming), a division of Paramount Global, oversees the company’s streaming technology and offers direct-to-consumer services, free, premium and pay. These incl ...
, which owned CNET, acquired Gerstmann's ''
Giant Bomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time'' mag ...
'' site, the non-disparagement agreement between Gerstmann and CNET was nullified. During a 2012 ''GameSpot'' "On the Spot" interview with Gerstmann, Gerstmann was able to talk of the terms of his dismissal in 2008. Gerstmann revealed that his firing was in fact related to the low review score he had given to ''
Kane & Lynch ''Kane & Lynch: Dead Men'' is a 2007 third-person shooter video game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive in North America and PAL regions, and Spike in Japan, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The m ...
'', though his explanation cited other similar events that led up to the termination, including a 7.5 (good) rating given to '' Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction'' by Aaron Thomas, then an employee under Gerstmann. Events such as these led to him being "called into a room" several times to discuss reviews posted on the site. Gerstmann went on to lay the blame on a new management team that was unable to properly handle tension between the marketing and editorial staff, laying additional blame on the marketing department, which he claimed was unprepared in how to handle publisher complaints and threats to withdraw advertising money over low review scores. Gerstmann also stated he ran into a few members of '' ane & Lynch' developer
IO Interactive IO Interactive A/S (IOI) is a Danish video game developer based in Copenhagen, best known for creating and developing the ''Hitman'' and '' Kane and Lynch'' franchises. IO Interactive's most recent game is '' Hitman 3'', which was released in J ...
at a convention a few months after his firing. He claims one of the people he ran into said, "Yeah, ''Kane & Lynch'' wasn't a very good game." Gerstmann responded, "You should totally call up my old bosses and tell them that."


Giant Bomb (2008–2022)

Shortly after leaving ''GameSpot'', Gerstmann started an online blog saying: "I'm mainly starting this site up to give people a centralized place to hear directly from me, as all these bits and pieces that have gotten out to game news sites via interviews and the blog on my MySpace account aren't really the best way to communicate. So if you're interested in what I plan to do from here, this is the place. I'll also be sharing my thoughts on games and the business that surrounds them, perhaps with an occasional video or two." On the first episode of
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
's "GameSages"
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
, Gerstmann stated that he was talking with "old friends" - later revealed to be Shelby Bonnie, the former CEO and co-founder of CNET, along with other former ''GameSpot'' people who left shortly in the wake of Gerstmann's dismissal and founded
Whiskey Media Whiskey Media was an American online media company founded independently by ''CNET'' co-founder Shelby Bonnie in 2008. It was the parent company of Tested, Screened, and Anime Vice, and the former parent company of ''Giant Bomb'' and Comic Vine. W ...
- in regards to his future plans. Gerstmann and Davis announced their new venture ''Giant Bomb'' in March 2008 under the Whiskey Media brand, with the website going live on July 21, 2008. The staff produced videogame-related content with multiple video series including "Endurance Runs" playing through the entirety of long games, "Quick Looks" that spend about 20–30 minutes playing through new titles, and the "This Ain't No Game" segment reviewing movies based on video games. They also produced a podcast, the "Giant Bombcast", which continues today with a different cast. The site includes video game reviews and covers video game news. Gerstmann also personally produced a regular premium-content video segment called "Jar Time with Jeff", hour long broadcasts often themed around
jar A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on c ...
related puns, in which Gerstmann drinks from a jar while answering questions submitted via email from ''Giant Bomb'' users; over time the segment began to include various off topic inclusions such as showing off his video game and console collection, and discussing his own opinions on various non video game-related subjects. ''Giant Bomb'' was voted by
Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
as one of the top-50 websites of 2011. On March 15, 2012, the staff of ''Giant Bomb'' announced that the site had been acquired by
CBS Interactive Paramount Streaming (formerly CBS Digital Media Group, CBS Interactive, ViacomCBS Streaming), a division of Paramount Global, oversees the company’s streaming technology and offers direct-to-consumer services, free, premium and pay. These incl ...
, owners of CNET, meaning that Gerstmann would be working alongside his former employer, ''GameSpot''. The site was later purchased by
Red Ventures Red Ventures is an American media company, which owns and operates brands such as Lonely Planet, CNET, ZDNet, The Points Guy, Healthline and Bankrate. Red Ventures focuses on sites that dispense news, advice, and reviews. The company's corporat ...
in September 2020. Along with Gerstmann and Davis — who died in 2013 — Brad Shoemaker and Vinny Caravella also contributed to ''Giant Bomb'', with both departing alongside fellow contributor Alex Navarro in 2021.


''The Jeff Gerstmann Show'' (2022–present)

Gerstmann announced his departure from Giant Bomb on June 6, 2022. The following day, Gerstmann announced a new solo podcast, ''The Jeff Gerstmann Show'', funded via
Patreon Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a co ...
. Gerstmann elaborated on the podcast's first episode that the decision to leave Giant Bomb was a result of feeling overly stressed and creatively stifled by the increasing bureaucracy and time spent on business and management while working under a corporation, coupled with a desire to spend more time focusing on the actual production of content and the discussion of games and the industry.


Other appearances

In 1997, Gerstmann was interviewed on
Electric Playground ''EP Daily'' (formerly ''The Electric Playground'') is a daily news television show that covers video games, movies, TV shows, comic books, collectibles and gadgets. Created and executive produced by host Victor Lucas, and his Vancouver, British ...
after winning an
NFL Blitz ''NFL Blitz'' is a series of American football themed video games originally released by Midway featuring National Football League (NFL) teams. It began as a 1997 arcade game '' NFL Blitz'' that was ported to home consoles and spawned a series of ...
tournament. Gerstmann was a regular guest on ''Bonus Round'', which was a panel topic discussion show on the video game industry presented by
Geoff Keighley Geoff Keighley () is a Canadian video game journalist and television presenter. He was most known for hosting the video game show '' GameTrailers TV'', and for co-hosting the now-defunct '' G4tv.com''. Keighley is also a freelance writer whose ...
on
GameTrailers ''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released v ...
.


Personal life

Gerstmann became engaged in the summer of 2015. He announced that he became married on February 16, 2016, on the ''Giant Bombcast''. On July 22, 2019, Gerstmann announced the birth of his first child. In May 2021, he announced his wife's second pregnancy, with the child due in September.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerstmann, Jeff 1975 births Living people American media critics American podcasters Journalists from California Video game critics