Seán William McLoughlin (/məˈɡlɒklɪn/ mə-GLOK-lin;[5] born 7 February 1990), better known publicly as jacksepticeye, is an Irish YouTuber whose videos focus on gaming, comedy and vlogging.
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.
[22][23] Among the reasons for the move were the city's strong LGBTQ and vegan communities,[24] and privacy concerns after fans found his home in Athlone.
[17] McLoughlin started uploading videos to YouTube under the name "jacksepticeye" in December 2012, initially focusing on voice impressions before transitioning to gameplay content.
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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[53] That October, McLoughlin announced that he would be featured in the movie Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds, which was released in August 2021.
[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".
[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.
[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.
[82] 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.
[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.
"[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.
[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.
[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.
[102] The comic series, titled Altrverse, features characters that have appeared in his YouTube content;[103] its first issue was released in December 2023.
[108] In December 2016, McLoughlin was a part of the Revelmode charity holiday livestream #Cringemas, with PewDiePie, Markiplier, Emma Blackery, and PJ Liguori.
[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.
[132] McLoughlin's 2023 Thankmas stream also raised money for World Central Kitchen and was presented live from the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles.
"[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.
[140][141] Similar videos were also released by Linus Sebastian and Marques Brownlee,[140] leading to YouTube taking steps to counteract the problem.
"[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.
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.
[8][17] McLoughlin has played the drums since he was young,[17] and was previously in a melodic death metal-influenced metalcore band called Raised to the Ground.