James Stephanie Sterling Explained

James Stephanie Sterling
Birth Place:Erith, London, England[1]
Occupation:Video game critic, web video producer, livestreamer, professional wrestler
Pseudonym:Commander Sterling
Channel Name:JimSterling
Channel Display Name:Jim Sterling
Years Active:2006–present
Genre:Video game industry journalism
Subscribers:751 thousand
Views:552 million
Associated Acts:Laura Kate Dale
Stats Update:31 May 2024

James Stephanie Sterling,[2] also known as Commander Sterling and formerly known as Jim Sterling, is an English-American freelance video game journalist, critic, pundit, YouTuber, and professional wrestler. Before becoming independent in September 2014, she was the review editor for Destructoid,[3] and an author for The Escapist.[4] Sterling is noted as one of the main examples of a YouTuber achieving success through crowdfunding.[5]

Career

Video game critic

Sterling presents The Jimquisition, a weekly YouTube video series in which she discusses current issues surrounding video games, often involving consumer protection and ethics in the video game industry. The series originated on Destructoid's YouTube channel and was later moved to The Escapists channel, before being released on Sterling's own channel. Her main gameplay series are "Jimpressions" and "Squirty Play", where she discussed her impressions of a recently released video game while showing her own pre-recorded gameplay. She has often spoken against sexism in gaming, and has been open about the fact that her position on this subject has slowly evolved.

In November 2014, Sterling announced that she was leaving The Escapist and intended to seek funding for her work independently through Patreon. On a 2020 episode of The Jimquisition, she stated that she had departed The Escapist after the publication had refused to publish her negative review of Assassin's Creed Unity, citing that parent company Defy Media was afraid of damaging any sponsorship opportunities with Ubisoft.[6] Sterling also stated her desire to go back to writing articles and recording podcasts, which she was not able to do since leaving Destructoid. She currently maintains her own website, The Jimquisition, in addition to producing a podcast titled "Podquisition", which is shared with fellow British game journalist and founding host, Laura Kate Dale. The third founding member/co-host, Irish musician Gavin Dunne, had his final permanent appearance on episode 250, leaving to pursue a musical career.[7] Gavin was replaced on episode 251 with Conrad Zimmerman, who had previously worked alongside Sterling at Destructoid.[8] [9]

In March 2016, Digital Homicide Studios filed a lawsuit against Sterling, seeking $10 million in damages for "assault, libel, and slander",[10] [11] following Sterling's negative review of their first game The Slaughtering Grounds.[12] Sterling further accused Digital Homicide Studios of deleting negative feedback of the game on its Steam review page, and banning users who criticized it. The lawsuit was raised to $15 million, before it was eventually dismissed with prejudice in late February 2017.[13]

Sterling has been credited with coining the term "chungus", which would later be part of the name of the "Big Chungus" meme. Sterling started using the term as early as 2012 on her channel in a variety of unrelated contexts with different meanings for humorous effect.[14] She was also credited with coining "asset flip" in 2015.[15]

Wrestling

Sterling wrestles under the name Commander Sterling.[16] Sterling initially became involved in wrestling as a joke, appearing as a character called Sterdust, parodying Cody Rhodes' character Stardust, later appearing as a heel manager, before taking up wrestling herself, also as a heel.[17] She has wrestled for promotions including Pro Wrestling EGO, Ryse Wrestling, BadBoys Wrestling (BBW), and the PolyAm Cult Party.[18] She co-founded and runs wrestling promotion Spectrum Wrestling.

Voice actor & video game writer

Sterling joined the writing team for Vampire Survivors in 2022, writing the game bestiary.[19] She has also provided voices for Jazzpunk, We Happy Few, , Volume, The Charnel House Trilogy, Lorelai and .[20]

Reception

In 2011 Sterling was featured in a list of "the 25 raddest game journalists to follow on Twitter" by Complex. She has developed into a controversial figure in the world of video game journalism, particularly for her criticisms of industry practices and focus on consumer protection. Fans of some highly anticipated games, including No Man's Sky[21] and ,[22] have launched DDoS attacks against Sterling's website following reviews that were believed to be insufficiently positive.[23] [24]

Sterling's views on art games have been criticized by Spelunky creator Derek Yu. In 2014, Yu compared Sterling's view to that of art critic Louis Leroy writing in 1874 of a Claude Monet painting which Leroy criticized for being unfinished, while the style of painting would later become a major art style.

Personal life

Sterling was born in London, England, where she said she lived near the poverty line for much of her childhood.[25] In a video from November 2015, Sterling stated (while talking about the polyamorous relationship options in Fallout 4) that she was "not a monogamous guy, nor [...] a straight one either."[26] She is openly pansexual and queer.[27] [28] In June 2020, she became a naturalized United States citizen.[29] In August 2020, Sterling came out as non-binary.[30] Sterling uses she/them pronouns.[31]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sterling. Jim. Beautifully bleak, a quasi-defense of "dark and gritty" games. gamefront.com. 31 December 2023. 11 April 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20161124154314/https://www.gamefront.com/games/gamingtoday/article/beautifully-bleak-a-quasi-defense-of-dark-and-gritty-games. 24 November 2016. live.
  2. Web site: Fennimore . Jack . Jim Sterling: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know . . 12 February 2021 . 26 January 2021.
  3. Web site: 2017-02-21 . Jim Sterling prevails in his lawsuit with Digital Homicide . 2024-02-19 . Destructoid . en-US.
  4. Web site: 2014-11-04 . Jim Sterling Legacy Author, Author at The Escapist . 2024-02-19 . The Escapist . en-US.
  5. Web site: Jim Sterling – The YouTuber Standing Up To Game Industry Greed. ScreenRant. Davis. Hubert. 25 February 2020. 15 September 2020.
  6. Web site: Sterling. Jim. Ubisoft Spent Years Protecting Mental And Physical Abusers (The Jimquisition). 28 August 2020. YouTube.
  7. Web site: Dunne. Gavin. 20 September 2019. A fond farewell to Podquisition <3. 3 November 2020. patreon.
  8. Web site: 29 April 2022. An unlikely pairing has given birth to Plague Road. 14 January 2017.
  9. Web site: 14 July 2014. About. 7 November 2020. Conrad Zimmerman dot com. en-US. 31 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201031171941/http://conradzimmerman.com/about/. dead.
  10. Web site: Angered Game Developer Sues Critic Jim Sterling For $10 Million. Patrick Klepek. Gawker Media. Kotaku. 17 March 2016 . 28 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20160319060759/http://kotaku.com/angered-game-developer-sues-game-critic-jim-sterling-fo-1765484317. 19 March 2016. live.
  11. Web site: Indie developer Digital Homicide sues Jim Sterling. Chris Carter. Destructoid. 17 March 2016. 28 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20160318170837/http://www.destructoid.com/indie-developer-digital-homicide-sues-jim-sterling-349283.phtml. 18 March 2016. live.
  12. Web site: The Slaughtering Grounds: A Steam Meltdown Story . Sterling . Jim . 10 November 2014 . . . 28 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160630150954/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/9884-The-Slaughtering-Grounds-Developer-Meltdown . 30 June 2016 . live .
  13. Web site: Jim Sterling was sued for making fun of a game, and it was a bad idea. Polygon. Ibrahim. Mona. 2 March 2017. 15 September 2020.
  14. Web site: Big Chungus is the last great meme of 2018—and it could only appear during the holidays. Valens. Ana. The Daily Dot. 13 February 2019.
  15. Web site: White . Kaila . Free speech or criminal harassment? Arizona game maker sues online commenters for $18M . The Arizona Republic.
  16. Web site: Ryse Wrestling removes announcers after misgendering talent. Brian C.. Bell. 28 June 2021. Outsports.
  17. Web site: Jim Sterling: From 'Pathetic Edgelord' To YouTube's 'Princess Of Pansexual Pandemonium'. Kotaku. 9 February 2022 .
  18. Web site: Jim Sterling: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. Jack. Fennimore. 1 May 2017.
  19. News: Troughton . James . Vampire Survivors' Giovanna Is Trans . 31 August 2023 . TheGamer . ValNet . 20 December 2022 . en.
  20. Web site: ABOUT . The Jimquisition . 31 August 2023 . en.
  21. Web site: No Man's Site. James Sterling. The Jimquistion. The Jimquisition. 13 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170610223039/http://www.thejimquisition.com/no-mans-site/. 10 June 2017.
  22. Web site: Jim Sterling Angers Zelda Fans With "Negative" 7/10 Breath of the Wild Review. Cultured Vultures. https://web.archive.org/web/20170314064454/https://culturedvultures.com/jim-sterling-angers-zelda-fans-negative-710-breath-wild-review/. 14 March 2017. live. Donnellan. Jimmy. 13 March 2017. 13 March 2017.
  23. Web site: Driver. Ben. Jim Sterling's site under attack after giving The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild a 7/10. VG247. 13 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170313124252/https://www.vg247.com/2017/03/13/jim-sterlings-site-under-attack-after-giving-the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-a-710/. 13 March 2017. live.
  24. Web site: Sam. Bishop. 29 April 2022. Jim Sterling's site receives DDoS attacks after Zelda review. Gamereactor UK. 13 March 2017 .
  25. Web site: The Beginner's Guide Review – The Hardest Word The Jimquisition. www.thejimquisition.com. 17 October 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160414124258/http://www.thejimquisition.com/the-beginners-guide-review/. 14 April 2016. dead.
  26. Fallout 4's S.P.E.C.I.A.L Relationships (The Jimquisition). 9 November 2015. YouTube. 23 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160317202601/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMUBqXkijAw. 17 March 2016. live.
  27. Sterling. Jim. I used to identify as bi before I realized the whole pan thing applied to me so much more.... jimsterling. 1176169811124133888. 23 September 2019. 28 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20190923171410/https://twitter.com/jimsterling/status/1176169811124133888. 23 September 2019. live.
  28. Sterling. Jim. Anyway, as an openly queer wearer of corseted hats, I do declare that homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia all smell of poo and wee. #IDAHOBIT. jimsterling. 1129381002424606720. 17 May 2019. 28 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200828052501/https://twitter.com/jimsterling/status/1129381002424606720. 28 August 2020. live.
  29. Sterling. Jim. The job is done, a citizen I am, and I have a flag to prove it.. jimsterling. 1277592411657719808. 29 June 2020. 28 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200629132747/https://twitter.com/JimSterling/status/1277592411657719808. 29 June 2020. live.
  30. Sterling. Jim. I am non-binary pansexual gendertrash. I like all pronouns. I haven't been this comfortable with myself before. Ever.. jimsterling. 1298199496652918784. 25 August 2020. 28 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200825123123/https://twitter.com/JimSterling/status/1298199496652918784. 25 August 2020. live.
  31. Web site: Sterling. Jim. Commander Sterling (@JimSterling). 21 October 2023. Twitter. en.

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