The six out of ten that cost a man his job

Jeff Gerstmann gave Kane & Lynch: Dead Men a six out of ten — on GameSpot's scale that was labelled Fair. An ordinary middling grade for an ordinary middling game.

One detail: in those days the whole of GameSpot had been repainted as an advertisement for that very game. Not a banner in the margin — the entire site skin, bought by the publisher Eidos. A reader opened the review inside the promotional wrapping of the thing being reviewed.

On 28 November 2007 Gerstmann was dismissed. The company stated the reason was unrelated to the review. A non-disparagement agreement kept him from speaking until March 2012, when the site's owner acquired his new venture and the obligation lapsed. He then confirmed that management had given in to publisher pressure.

The story is remembered as one about a brave critic and cowardly bosses. I think it is about something else: that the room where a score is discussed should not contain the person who sells the advertising.

Personal integrity does not work as a defence here. Gerstmann was honest, and it changed nothing, because the decision was not his or his editor's. The only thing that actually protects a score is structure: advertising must not be tied to a specific article, sales must not see the text before publication, and an editorial desk must be able to survive the loss of any one advertiser.

None of those rules is heroic. All three are dull administrative work, done in advance, while nobody is yet calling to threaten anyone. Afterwards it is too late: the moment the money is on the same page, the argument has stopped being about the quality of the game.