[4] In January 1996, Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein quit their positions at IDG and founded SpotMedia Communications.

[7] Originally, GameSpot focused solely on personal computer games, so a sister site, VideoGameSpot, was launched on December 1, 1996.

[9] By the following month, Ziff Davis's substantial financial infusion enabled GameSpot to grow to 45 employees.

[7] In February 1999, PC Magazine named GameSpot one of the hundred best websites, alongside competitors IGN and CNET Gamecenter.

[21] Two years later, Fandom acquired GameSpot, along with Metacritic, TV Guide, GameFAQs, Giant Bomb, Cord Cutters News, and Comic Vine from Red Ventures.

[24] GameSpot UK (United Kingdom) was started in October 1997 and operated until mid-2002, offering content that was oriented for the British market that often differed from that of the U.S. site.

[28] In a similar fashion, GameSpot AU (Australia) existed on a local scale in the late 1990s with Australian-produced reviews.

When a local version of the main CNET portal, CNET.com.au was launched in 2003, GameSpot AU content was folded into CNET.com.au.

[citation needed] Jeff Gerstmann, editorial director of the site, was fired on November 28, 2007 as a result of pressure from Eidos Interactive, a major advertiser; Eidos objected to the 6/10 review that Gerstmann had given Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, a game they were heavily advertising on GameSpot at the time.