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In an exclusive interview with Joystiq, longtime Gamespot reviewer Alex Navarro announced that in response to the controversial firing of Jeff Gerstmann, he will be resigning from his post after five years with the company. "I felt like it was just time for me to go," said Navarro, adding "Certainly [the resignation] had a lot to do with the whole Jeff [Gerstmann] situation. ... I wouldn't have left if this situation hadn't gone down the way it did.”
 

Navarro reviews Rock Band for Gamespot 

This announcement comes hot on the heels of a similar announcement from freelancer Frank Provo who made no bones about why he was leaving. "I believe [parent company] CNet management let Jeff go for all the wrong reasons," said Provo, also referring to Gamespot as "the ultimate soul-crushing work environment."

With the resignation of two long-time staffers in the last week, the Gerstmann firing seems to be more disruptive to Gamespot than initially expected.  Whether or not it’s the kind of thing that can utterly destroy a site remains to be seen, but there is definitely some serious user backlash, and a lot of longtime site visitors have taken their virtual business elsewhere.  In the world of game reviews, credibility is everything, and Gamespot has definitely taken a serious hit in this department.  Regaining the trust of their users and holding on to the rest of their staff should be Gamespot’s top two priorities right now.

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