Raised in Cloghan, County Offaly in Ireland, McLoughlin played video games from a young age. He started uploading videos to YouTube in December 2012 and his channel grew rapidly in the following years, reaching a million subscribers in 2014 and 10 million by 2016. Throughout 2017, McLoughlin appeared on Disney XD and Irish national television before touring in Europe and the US in 2017 and 2018 for his How Did We Get Here tour and the Game Grumps' Ready Player 3 tour.
In 2018, McLoughlin began streaming exclusive content on Twitch as part of a multi-year deal with Disney Digital Network. He continued to create YouTube videos and appear in live events, including Summer Game Fest in 2020. In 2021, McLoughlin appeared in the film Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds. The following year, he released a biographical documentary entitled How Did We Get Here? which featured footage from his tour of the same name.
McLoughlin is a co-founder of the clothing brand Cloak with fellow YouTuber Markiplier and the founder and owner of the Top of The Mornin' Coffee company. He is also an active philanthropist, participating in fundraisers that have raised tens of millions for charitable organizations.
Early life and education
Seán William McLoughlin[6] was born on 7 February 1990,[7] the youngest of five children[7][8] to John (c. 1936 – 27 January 2021)[9] and Florrie McLoughlin.[10] He was raised in Cloghan in County Offaly, Ireland and also lived for a time in Banagher.[11][a] His father worked for the Electricity Supply Board and his mother worked a number of jobs before she became a care-giver for his grandmother.[17] McLoughlin began playing video games at the age of seven[18] and as a child he spent time playing on the Nintendo Game Boy in a neighbourhood treehouse, later describing how he found a sense of belonging in games.[19] He was given his nickname "Jack Septic Eye" after a childhood accident during a football match in which he injured his eye.[19][20]
McLoughlin started uploading videos to YouTube under the name "jacksepticeye" in December 2012, initially focusing on voice impressions before transitioning to gameplay content.[18][25] In 2013, he was mentioned in a PewDiePie video, causing his channel to go from 2,500 subscribers to 15,000 in four days.[26] Due to the success of his channel, McLoughlin was able to make it his full-time job by May 2014.[25][27] In August of the same year he hit a million subscribers,[17] and by the end of the year he had reached 1.5 million.[26] By February 2015, the channel had reached one billion views and 3.2 million subscribers.[28] The following year, he gained another six million subscribers.[17] In January 2016, he was one of the initial YouTubers signed under PewDiePie's multi-channel networkRevelmode.[29][30] That year, he co-hosted South by Southwest's annual SXSW Gaming Awards,[27][31] and appeared in the 2016 YouTube Rewind.[32]
McLoughlin co-starred as the antagonist in the second season of the YouTube Red show Scare PewDiePie. Initially planned to premiere on 9 March 2017, the season was cancelled prior to release due to controversy surrounding PewDiePie and the use of anti-semitic imagery on his channel.[33][34] Following the controversy, it was confirmed that the Revelmode network had been shut down by Disney.[35] Subsequently, McLoughlin was signed under the Disney Digital Network.[36] In June 2017, Polaris, a division of The Walt Disney Company, announced that McLoughlin would be featured in the series Polaris: Player Select on the television channel Disney XD as part of a new programming block for the channel called D | XP.[37] Later that year, McLoughlin was featured on the RTÉ 2 two-part documentary Ireland's Rich List as one of the "top 30 earners under the age of 30", leading to him receiving a wide coverage in the Irish media and a greater exposure to people in the country who had not seen his YouTube content.[38][39][6]
McLoughlin toured throughout September–October 2017, in the US with his How Did We Get Here tour, and later in the UK and Europe with the Game Grumps on their Ready Player 3 tour.[40] The How Did We Get Here show consisted of a biographical retelling of McLoughlin's childhood in Ireland to his rise as a popular YouTuber, alongside segments in which McLoughlin would play games with his fans.[19][41] In February 2018, McLoughlin released dates for a US and Canada run of the How Did We Get Here tour.[42][43] That July, he performed the show at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal.[44] In 2018, it was announced McLoughlin would produce exclusive content for livestreaming platform Twitch as part of a multi-year deal with Disney's Digital Network.[45][46]
In January 2019, McLoughlin signed with the talent agency WME and later that year signed with the multi-channel network Studio71.[41][47] McLoughlin was set to appear at the Metarama Gaming + Music Festival in October 2019 alongside acts such as Marshmello, Logic, and Ninja,[48][49] but the event was cancelled due to a lack of funding.[50][51] In 2020, McLoughlin participated in Summer Game Fest,[52] an event that ran from May to August following the cancellation of E3 2020.[53] That October, McLoughlin announced that he would be featured in the movie Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds, which was released in August 2021.[54] Previously, Reynolds had appeared in a video of McLoughlin's in which they played the video game Deadpool together.[55][56][13] McLoughlin later revealed that he had also provided advice to the director Shawn Levy on how to make the film authentic to video game culture.[13]
In July 2021, McLoughlin released a short film entitled "15 MONTHS" to his YouTube channel which Polygon described as "a moody and atmospheric exploration of his time during the pandemic".[57] Later that year he signed with the talent agency CAA.[58] In February 2022, McLoughlin announced that a biographical documentary entitled How Did We Get Here? would premiere on 28 February on Moment House, a platform that allows creators to offer ticketed online events. The documentary covers McLoughlin's life from his childhood to his career as a YouTube personality and includes footage from his tour of the same name.[59]
In a July 2022 episode of the Trash Taste podcast, McLoughlin said that he would likely not continue streaming on Twitch because he wanted to focus more on his edited YouTube content.[60][61] In 2023, McLoughlin and Chris Redd together co-hosted The Gamer and the Mouth, a show featuring gaming creators and comedians in a mixed gaming and comedy event.[62]
Media lists and income
McLoughlin's influence and income has been included in a number of media lists and rankings. In September 2017, he was included in Forbes' list of the Top Gaming Influencers of 2017.[63] The following year, he was estimated to be the eighth highest-paid YouTuber by Forbes, with estimated earnings of $16 million.[64][65][66][67] He was also estimated to be the eighth highest-paid gamer by Forbes in 2019, with estimated earnings of $11 million,[68] and he was announced as the third most talked about gaming personality of the year on Twitter.[69] McLoughlin was featured on the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 list under the category "Sports & Games" where he was described as "Ireland's most popular YouTuber".[70][71] According to research done by consumer electronics retailer Currys, McLoughlin was the 6th most popular gaming streamer of 2021.[72] McLoughlin was included in Forbes' Top Creators 2022 list at number 15.[73][74] He was also the seventh-highest earning gaming YouTuber in 2022 according to an analysis by casino review site Casino Alpha, with an estimated income of €7.3 million from his YouTube videos that year.[75][76] McLoughlin was again listed at number 15 in Forbes' Top Creators 2023,[77] being the eighth highest paid creator on the list with an estimated income of $27 million.[78] He was included in Forbes' Top Creators 2024 at number 23 with an estimated income of $18 million.[79]
In June 2014, McLoughlin's channel entered the top 100 most-subscribed channels on YouTube and was the most-subscribed Irish channel according to Tubefilter.[80] Since then his channel has been noted as the most subscribed in Ireland by multiple publications, including the Irish Examiner,[28]The Irish Times,[25]The Times,[14] and The Guardian.[81]
YouTube content
McLoughlin's YouTube content consists mainly of Let's Plays, as well as comedy gaming videos and vlogs.[20][82] According to TheJournal.ie, the games that McLoughlin plays on his channel are "a mixture of both conventional and weird titles".[26] His content also commonly features collaborations with other popular YouTubers, particularly Markiplier and PewDiePie who are both close friends with McLoughlin.[82][83] As well as YouTubers, McLoughlin's channel has also featured traditional celebrities, including interviews with Tom Holland, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Brad Pitt, Chris Hemsworth, and Margot Robbie.[58] Other content that regularly appears on his channel includes comedy sketches, short films, charity livestreams, and Q&A sessions.[82]
Septic Eye Sam, the logo of the jacksepticeye channel; its prominent use of the colour green represents McLoughlin's Irish identity
His videos typically begin with an intro in which he gives a high five to the camera and says "Top of the morning to ya, laddies",[18] although he had decided to use the catchphrase more sparingly by 2023.[84] He chose to use a stereotypical catchphrase for his intro to express his Irish identity to viewers of his videos, wearing a flat cap for the same reason.[26][18] He has speculated that his Irish identity and accent has contributed to his success,[27] saying that "[w]hen some young lad comes around and he starts screaming in an Irish accent and swearing, it's like people getting their own Irish drug".[85] His videos also typically end with a catchphrase encouraging his audience to "punch the 'like' button in the face, like a boss!"[27] Another theme that is present throughout McLoughlin's content is the colour green which represents his Irish heritage and is present in his YouTube logo "Septic Eye Sam".[82]
McLoughlin's videos are highly edited.[57] They feature commentary in response to the games he plays which is improvised rather than being pre-planned,[26] incorporating humour, funny voices, laughter, and swearing.[18] His commentary has been described as "genuine" and "authentic" by TheJournal.ie,[26] and as composed of "talking-head, stream-of-consciousness comedy" by the Star Tribune.[19] He calls himself the "most energetic video-game commentator on YouTube",[86] and has described his content as an "assault on the senses" that people "either love or hate".[28] In an interview with the Irish Independent, he described the format of his videos as him playing and talking over video games with a lot of swearing.[39] He has cited his use of swearing as a key aspect to his success saying, "There's lots of swearing. The more you swear the better. People react very positively to that apparently."[38][39] He has also said that his success is due to "an overall package of a lot of things; energy, positivity, honesty, and consistency."[27] McLoughlin has claimed that an inclusive community is an important part of the jacksepticeye channel, stating, "One of the main things I wanted to do on YouTube is to keep people together."[26] McLoughlin has encouraged positivity online with the slogan "positive mental attitude", utilising the phrase in videos, campaigns and merchandising.[87][88][89]
Elements of gothic storytelling have been identified in McLoughlin's Let's Plays of horror games and in the character of Antisepticeye, which is played by McLoughlin as an evil presence on the channel. The character originated in response to a similar character called Darkiplier from Markiplier's fanbase. Its presentation utilises fan participation via direct addresses to the audience and interaction between the character and audience members on social media websites such as Twitter.[82] McLoughlin's audience also engages with his content in the form of creating fan fiction.[8] In addition to his YouTube content, McLoughlin also produces short-form videos for TikTok,[17] which tend to focus on more personal content compared to his YouTube channel.[90]
Frequency of uploads
For the first five years of his career, McLoughlin uploaded two videos per day, later reducing the amount to one per day.[14] In July 2018, McLoughlin announced in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel that he would be taking his first short break from uploading to his channel, citing struggles with his mental health and burnout.[91][92] The video was among a wave of videos released at the time by various online content creators that focused on creator burnout and was praised by fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson who said that he had felt similar feelings.[92]
In the following years, he continued to be vocal about overwork and burnout and took multiple more breaks from uploading to his channel.[93] In July 2020, he took a break from uploading until August, saying that he was exhausted from his uploading schedule and that he would no longer upload daily videos when he returned to making content. His first video upon his return to YouTube was viewed over 2 million times in its first day and became the top trending clip on YouTube.[12] In January 2021, McLoughlin took a break from recording and streaming due to personal grief following the death of his father.[17] In July 2021, McLoughlin took another break from releasing videos to his channel which lasted over a month, saying in an interview with Polygon, "I feel like I’ve done it so often for so long that I just burnt myself out on it. I feel like if I’m not putting the energy that I’m known for; the energy that I like to put into my content, then I’d rather just take a step back from it and do something else."[57]
Other ventures
Business
In October 2018, McLoughlin posted a video announcing Cloak, a clothing brand aimed at gamers which he created with Markiplier.[94] In June 2020, Cloak welcomed the Twitch streamer Pokimane as a third partner and creative director for the brand.[95] The brand has created special edition collections in collaboration with various franchises and internet personalities including Pokimane, Minecraft Dungeons, Five Nights at Freddy's, and Rhett & Link.[96][97][98] The brand usually donates a percentage of its sales revenue to charities, and has raised money for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and The Trevor Project in this way.[95][98] He left the business in 2023.[99]
On 15 June 2020, McLoughlin announced that he was launching his own coffee company, named Top of The Mornin' Coffee, and that it would start its pre-orders on the same day. He also announced that the company had partnered with the Feya Foundation, a charity aimed at combating world hunger.[100] In April 2023, he launched a podcast with fellow YouTuber Ethan Nestor titled Brain Leak.[101][102] He also announced a comic book with comic book publisher Bad Egg, saying that he had been inspired to partner with the company after they released Godslap in collaboration with YouTuber MoistCr1TiKaL.[102] The comic series, titled Altrverse, features characters that have appeared in his YouTube content;[103] its first issue was released in December 2023.[104]
In December 2016, McLoughlin was a part of the Revelmode charity holiday livestream #Cringemas, with PewDiePie, Markiplier, Emma Blackery, and PJ Liguori. The group raised over $1.3 million under the hashtag #EndAIDS, with matching donations from the Gates Foundation and YouTube.[109] In December 2017, McLoughlin hosted two charity streams with Blackery and Liguori to raise money for Save The Children, raising over $260,000 for the charity.[110]
In January 2019, McLoughlin hosted a livestream which raised over $100,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.[88] In March 2019, McLoughlin headlined a Charity: Water livestream, raising over $100,000.[118][119] In May 2019, McLoughlin hosted a fundraising stream for Red Nose Day 2019 raising over $110,000 in nine hours.[120] In September 2019, McLoughlin hosted a charity livestream alongside actor Emilia Clarke, raising $260,000 for her charity SameYou which is devoted to brain injury recovery.[8] In December 2019, McLoughlin raised over $300,000 for Child's Play for his annual Thankmas charity stream.[121]
In January 2020, McLoughlin hosted a livestream which raised over $200,000 in four hours for the bushfires in Australia.[122] In April 2020, McLoughlin hosted a livestream which raised over $650,000 in 12 hours for COVID-19 relief funds. Including subsequent livestreams in collaboration with McLoughlin, the #HopeFromHome campaign raised over $1.7 million.[123] In June 2020, McLoughlin raised over $600,000 for the Black Lives Matter organisations The Bail Project, NAACP Empowerment Programs, Color of Change, and the Advancement Project.[124] In October 2020, McLoughlin participated in the YouTuber MrBeast's Team Trees fundraising campaign, raising over $150,000 for the Arbor Day Foundation to plant trees in combat of climate change.[81] In December 2020, for his annual Thankmas stream, McLoughlin raised over $1.4 million in 10 hours for the Red Nose Day campaign. Including subsequent livestreams in collaboration with McLoughlin, the campaign raised over $4.6 million.[125]
In December 2021, McLoughlin teamed up with fundraising platform Tiltify for his annual Thankmas stream in aid of the charity New Story which combats homelessness via methods such as 3D printing houses.[117][126][127] As part of the campaign, Tiltify provided tools for influencers on platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and TikTok to contribute to the event by hosting additional Thankmas charity streams.[128] The campaign raised $7.6 million overall.[129]
In November 2022, McLoughlin announced he would once again be working with Tiltify to raise money for World Central Kitchen for his annual Thankmas stream, with a goal of raising $10 million overall.[130][131] The goal of $10 million was successfully reached during the final hour of the stream.[132] McLoughlin's 2023 Thankmas stream also raised money for World Central Kitchen and was presented live from the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles.[133][134] It raised $6 million, bringing the total money raised as part of McLoughlin's Thankmas charity streams to over $25 million.[135]
Views
Criticism of YouTube
McLoughlin has been critical of the changing algorithms and policies at YouTube. In November 2016, McLoughlin responded to YouTube pulling ads from "unsuitable content", stating, "[t]his is people's careers. To completely switch how you do things and not tell anybody is a shitty thing to do."[136] Later that year, he accused the website of using "shady tactics" and "manipulating viewers" after algorithm changes starting in September had caused channels to decrease in new views and subscribers.[137] In May 2018, he responded to a surprise algorithm test from YouTube which changed the order of videos displayed in its subscription feed by stating, "People use the subscription tab to mainly avoid this sort of algorithmic behavior. Please keep that to the home page and recommendations."[138][139]
In March 2022, McLoughlin released a video complaining about an increased level of scams and spam comments on his videos.[140][141] Similar videos were also released by Linus Sebastian and Marques Brownlee,[140] leading to YouTube taking steps to counteract the problem.[141][142][143] New policies were introduced which removed channels' ability to hide their subscriber counts and ability to use special characters in their channel names in order to hinder impersonation of bigger accounts. Access to enhanced comment moderation settings was also expanded to more content creators on the platform.[142][143]
McLoughlin has criticised the YouTube algorithm for putting pressure on creators to be constantly creating content and has discussed the problem of creator mental health with YouTube, suggesting that the company could hide video view counts or remove the dislike button. At the same time, he said that YouTube had made him less lonely and less depressed by providing his life with "purpose".[14] McLoughlin has attributed the success of YouTube over television to its increased sense of community, and has said that "People always seek out community, wherever they can. I think YouTube’s strongest point is that sense of coming together and watching something together."[17] McLoughlin has also spoken positively about Twitch-competitor YouTube Gaming following policy changes at Twitch reducing the revenue share taken by streamers on the site, saying "What a mess. Owned by Amazon and acting like some amateur platform. It's no wonder so many of your partners are jumping ship to YT."[144][145] In 2023, McLoughlin claimed fellow YouTuber MrBeast had ruined YouTube by making it "more about views, money, and popularity than ... about having fun". MrBeast initially called the comments "insanely disrespectful", but later claimed he and McLoughlin had talked privately and there was no animosity between them.[146][147]
Criticism of the video game industry
McLoughlin has stated the belief that video game culture should become more inclusive. He has argued that controversies with companies like Activision Blizzard and the use of slurs or "gamer words" on Twitch indicated a toxic "chad energy" in the video game industry and culture. Linking these problems to broader issues, he said "I hope whatever culture we're shifting towards is in that more accepting, open space. There's still a lot of groundwork to be doing, just like in real life and things like LGBTQ representation. But I think we're going in the right direction."[148]
^ ab"Jacksepticeye Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions". Wired. 7 June 2022. 7:25. Retrieved 7 June 2022. I was born and raised in a small town in County Offaly, called Cloghan, which only had like 600 people in it, and then I moved to a town near that called Banagher, and then I moved to a tiny, tiny, tiny town called Ballycumber.
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