PR firm admits to influencing positive game review - UPDATE

Gerstmann-gate continues in the form of further evidence suggesting that publishers compromise the integrity of video game coverage.

Kohnke Communications, which specializes in video game PR, has filed suit against developer Perpetual Entertainment for breach of contract. Among other complaints, the plaintiff claims that money is still owed by the defendant for securing favorable preview coverage for the now-canceled Gods & Heroes.

"Kohnke's public relations campaign was successful in creating pre-release 'buzz' around Gods & Heroes, and in convincing reviewers to write positive reviews about the game," reads the seven-count court filing obtained by Shack News.

The statement comes shortly after the firing of GameSpot editor Jeff Gerstman, who was allegedly canned for panning a game (Kane and Lynch) made by one of the site's largest advertisers (Eidos).

GameSpot has since denied the allegations saying Gerstmann was fired for "internal reasons" not advertiser pressure seeking a more favorable review.

UPDATE: Kohnke VP Sean Kauppinen blamed "bad language" in the court filing for the misunderstanding. "We don't convince people to write positive reviews," he said. "We're not paying anyone off to review games, this is not related to Jeff Gerstmann, the Illuminati, or HGH in baseball. It's a typo."

THE VERDICT by Blake Snow Blake Snow's Avatar EDITOR'S NOTE: Some commenters have said this is PR merely doing its job. This is correct, but the alarming part is that Kohnke was successful "in convincing reviewers to write positive [early] reviews," more commonly called previews. Just because the problem is widespread doesn't make it right. Hence the important role of the press.

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