In March 2016, independent game critic Jim Sterling was faced with a $10.76 million ($15 million, according to Sterling) lawsuit from game developer Digital Homocide.
https://twitter.com/JimSterling/status/776897300992065540
The grounds for the lawsuit were based on Sterlings “untrue critics of [Digital Homicide] that constitute actionable liable.”
According to Kotaku, the origin story of this conflict emerged when Sterling conducted a review on the Digital Homicide game Slaughtering Grounds. Which he described as the “New Worst Game of 2014 Contender”.
Digital Homicide responded to this by making a video “reviewing the reviewer.” This childish back-and-forth continued for months on end. And finally, Digital Homicide filed the suit accusing Sterling of “assault, libel, and slander” saying that he had “falsely accused [Digital Homicide] and caused damage [to the company].”
After nearly a year, the case was formally dismissed with prejudice this week, following discussions between Sterling’s lawyer and the plaintiff, Digital Homicide’s James Romine. A dismissal with prejudice means that the plaintiff is unable to bring an action on the same claim, protecting Sterling from any further legal proceedings based on his past coverage of Digital Homicide titles.
“I personally viewed, and still view, the lawsuit as an attempted attack on my freedom to do my legally protected job. I personally perceive it as an attack launched by a man who is unable to deal with criticism in a reasonable fashion and has sought to blame me, continuously, for his failures.” said Sterling.
The full statement is available on Sterlings website.
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