Several sources online, including Wired Magazine's respected Game|Life blog, are today reporting that GameSpot editor Jeff Gerstmann may have been sacked by the website because of a low review score.

Reports from various sources, Kotaku and Penny Arcade, in addition the Wired blog, suggest the editor's review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men caused the sacking, the review awarding the game a score of 6.0, which allegedly prompted an angry response from game publisher Eidos. Sources suggest threatened to pull all their from the site, such was their displeasure at Gerstmann's rating of their new release.

GameSpot owners Cnet apparently responded by sacking Gerstmann, according to sources. The site appears to be running a number of high-profile ads, as well as some expensive-looking re-skins presently. Neither Eidos nor Cnet are commenting, by freelance sources online seem to confirm the editor has indeed been sacked.

Update: The plot thicken surrounding this as it now appears that many of the Kane & Lynch ads present on GameSpot only this morning have now disappeared. Meanwhile, Editorial Director Gerstmann has confirmed his sacking but not the reasons behind it. Our sources hint that Eidos' ad spend with the site could have been worth as much as two million USD.

More on this as we get it.

By Luke Guttridge