Dear friends and lovers,



Today I announce my departure from Destructoid.com as serving reviews editor and all-around sexy boy. I have been with Destructoid since, Christ, when was it? 2006? Back then, Nick "Brutal" Chester was the editor-in-chief, and he told me the readers love it when you mention Pokemans. I've never forgotten that advice. I'll also never forget my first post -- a news article on reviving dead Xbox 360s with towels. Readers responded with "Who the fuck is Jim Sterling?" It's a question that remained poignant throughout my entire career.



Who the fuck am I? I've gone from vulgar wildcard to slightly-more-vulgar wildcard to slightly-less-vulgar-kind-of-okay-guy. I've evolved from wannabe games journalist to proud games blogger to fiercely proud consumer advocate. I have been called a sexist and a vagina warrior radical feminist -- sometimes in the same day! I've been a newshound, an interviewer, a producer, a critic, and an asshole, and I owe all that Destructoid.



But as I constantly change, so too does Destructoid, and my continually expanding duties in the field of games media mean I cannot give Destructoid what it needs from me at this time of extreme evolution. Destructoid needs in its reviews editor a particular kind of writer, one absolutely fully dedicated to the company and its expansion. Meanwhile, my career is a wild and thrashing thing, and while I'll spend the next few days trying to consolidate the monster, both Destructoid's Dale North and I are in agreement that whatever form my life takes, it will not achieve the synergy we'd need from each other.



To Dale North, I wish nothing but luck in what's going to be a difficult and exciting time ahead. To Conrad Zimmerman and Jonathan Holmes, CHUNGUS CHUNGUS CHUNGUS. But seriously, you two are my friends, my very dear friends. To Chris Carter, you are Lil' Pumpy. To Jordan Devore, your work is astonishing. To Hamza Aziz, god you look hot in a suit. To everybody I've worked with at Destructoid over the years -- thank you. Thank you.



To Niero Gonzalez, my friend, and the one man I've truly called Boss ... my fealty is hard-won, and you made it look effortless.



So what is in my future? Well, I will still be bringing you video content in the form of Jimquisition, Movie Defense Force, Rhymedown Spectacular, and the JimSterling YouTube channel. I also am not done as a games critic. I still need an actual friggin' job, right, and I'm not good at anything else. Yes, I know many of you think I suck even at reviewing, but I still plan to be deeply involved in the process of videogame criticism, wherever I end up. It'll just be a job far more focused on exactly that, at a rate I can commit to.



I still remain a friend to Destructoid, and a personal chum of everyone there. And there's nothing saying you won't see us share a stage again.



Sincere love to everybody,

Jim Sterling.