Jacksepticeye

Seán William "Jack" McLoughlin ( ; born 7 February 1990), better known by his online pseudonym jacksepticeye, is an Irish YouTuber, streamer and philanthropist. His videos focus on gaming, comedy, and vlogging.

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 Grumpss 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. In 2025, he starred in the video game Dispatch in a voice role. In April 2026, it was announced that he will be co-producer for the upcoming Bloodborne film adaptation.

McLoughlin is the founder and owner of the Top of The Mornin' Coffee company. He also co-founded the clothing brand Cloak with fellow YouTuber Markiplier, although he is no longer associated with the brand. He is an active philanthropist, participating in fundraisers that have raised tens of millions for charitable organizations.

Early life and education Seán William McLoughlin the youngest of five children to John ( 1936 – 27 January 2021) and Florrie McLoughlin. He was born in Ballinasloe, and raised in Cloghan in County Offaly, Ireland and also lived for a time in Banagher. or Ballycumber, both in County Offaly, Ireland. His mother, responding to claims that he was from Athlone, said that Ballycumber is his hometown. and in a later interview with the magazine that he was born in Ballinasloe, County Galway. |name=birthplace 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. McLoughlin began playing video games at the age of seven As a child, he was often called Jack, a common nickname for Seán in Ireland. He was given the nickname "Jack Septic Eye" after a childhood accident during a football match in which he injured his eye.

When he was 18, McLoughlin and his family moved to a cabin in Ballycumber. McLoughlin studied music technology and production at Limerick Institute of Technology. and privacy concerns after fans found his home in Athlone. In 2013, he was mentioned in a PewDiePie video, causing his channel to go from 2,500 subscribers to 15,000 in four days. Due to the success of his channel, McLoughlin was able to make it his full-time job by May 2014. In August of the same year he hit a million subscribers, The following year, he gained another six million subscribers. That year, he co-hosted South by Southwest's annual SXSW Gaming Awards, and appeared in the 2016 YouTube Rewind.

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. Following the controversy, it was confirmed that the Revelmode network had been shut down by Disney. Subsequently, McLoughlin was signed under the Disney Digital Network. 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. 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.

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. 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. In February 2018, McLoughlin released dates for a US and Canada run of the How Did We Get Here tour. That July, he performed the show at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal. 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.

In January 2019, McLoughlin signed with the talent agency WME and later that year signed with the multi-channel network Studio71. McLoughlin was set to appear at the Metarama Gaming + Music Festival in October 2019 alongside acts such as Marshmello, Logic, and Ninja, but the event was cancelled due to a lack of funding. In 2020, McLoughlin participated in Summer Game Fest, an event that ran from May to August following the cancellation of E3 2020. 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". Later that year he signed with the talent agency CAA.

McLoughlin appeared as a cameo in the movie Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds, which was released in August 2021, and provided the director Shawn Levy advice on how to make the film authentic to video game culture. Previously, Reynolds had appeared in a video of McLoughlin's in which they played the video game Deadpool together. 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.

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. 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. In 2025, McLoughlin played the supporting character "Punch Up" in a voice role for the video game Dispatch, starring Aaron Paul, and in 2026 he appeared in Markiplier's self-funded horror film Iron Lung. In addition to acting and voice-acting roles, McLoughlin worked on production and behind-the-scenes roles for a number of projects, including for a cancelled animated show based on the horror game Soma, an independent horror movie called Godmother, The following year, he was estimated to be the eighth highest-paid YouTuber by Forbes, with estimated earnings of $16 million. He was also estimated to be the eighth highest-paid gamer by Forbes in 2019, with estimated earnings of $11 million, and he was announced as the third most talked about gaming personality of the year on Twitter. 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".

According to research done by consumer electronics retailer Currys, McLoughlin was the 6th most popular gaming streamer of 2021. McLoughlin was included in Forbess Top Creators 2022 list at number 15. 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. McLoughlin was again listed at number 15 in Forbess Top Creators 2023, being the eighth highest paid creator on the list with an estimated income of $27 million. He was included in Forbess Top Creators at number 23 with an estimated income of $18 million in both 2024 and 2025.

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. Since then his channel has been noted as the most subscribed in Ireland by multiple publications, including the Irish Examiner, According to TheJournal.ie, the games that McLoughlin plays on his channel are "a mixture of both conventional and weird titles". 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. 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. He has speculated that his Irish identity and accent has contributed to his success, His videos also typically end with a catchphrase encouraging his audience to "punch the 'like' button in the face, like a boss!" and has described his content as an "assault on the senses" that people "either love or hate".

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. In addition to his YouTube content, McLoughlin also produces short-form videos for TikTok,

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. 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. 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. In June 2020, Cloak welcomed the Twitch streamer Pokimane as a third partner and creative director for the brand. 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. 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.

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. In April 2023, he launched a podcast with fellow YouTuber Ethan Nestor titled Brain Leak. 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. its first issue was released in December 2023.

Philanthropy Business Insider has called McLoughlin "one of YouTube's most prolific philanthropists". In 2019, he was presented with a Humanitarian Stream Team award by Save the Children for his fundraising work with them. In 2021, he was named one of Junior Chamber International Ireland's "Ten Outstanding Young Persons" for raising over $6 million for charity between 2017 and 2021. In 2022, he won Best Philanthropic Streamer at The Streamer Awards. 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.

Throughout 2018, McLoughlin hosted various fundraiser livestreams for charities such as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, GameChanger and AbleGamers, charities which support ill and disabled gamers, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Crisis Text Line, raising a total of over $1 million for charities that year. McLoughlin's Crisis Text Line fundraising stream was held in December and titled "Thankmas",

In 2019, McLoughlin raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for multiple charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Charity: Water, Red Nose Day 2019, and Emilia Clarke's charity SameYou, which is devoted to brain injury recovery. He raised millions of dollars across 2020, raising money for bushfires in Australia, COVID-19 relief funds, MrBeast's Team Trees fundraising campaign, and Black Lives Matter organisations such as The Bail Project, NAACP Empowerment Programs, Color of Change, and the Advancement Project. 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.

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. 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. The campaign raised $7.6 million overall.

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 $10 million successfully raised during the event. McLoughlin's 2023 Thankmas stream also raised money for World Central Kitchen and was presented live from the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles. It raised $6 million, bringing the total money raised as part of McLoughlin's Thankmas charity streams to over $25 million. His 2024 Thankmas stream was broadcast live again from the Orpheum Theater in support of Crisis Text Line.

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, "his is people's careers. To completely switch how you do things and not tell anybody is a shitty thing to do." 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. 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."

In March 2022, McLoughlin released a video complaining about an increased level of scams and spam comments on his videos. Similar videos were also released by Linus Sebastian and Marques Brownlee, 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. 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.

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."

Personal life McLoughlin dated Danish social media influencer Signe "Wiishu" Hansen between 2015 and 2018. He has been in a relationship with Dutch YouTuber Evelien "Gab" Smolders since 2019. He has autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Discography With Raised to the Ground Risen from the Ashes (EP, 2009)

As Jacksepticeye

+List of singles TitleYearCertifications"All the Way (I Believe in Steve)"(with The Gregory Brothers)2016 RIAA: Gold "Enjoy the Show"(with NateWantsToBattle)—"All the Way (Pop Remix)"(with The Gregory Brothers, featuring Mike O.)2017—"What Is My Life"(with The Gregory Brothers)2018—"Dude's a Beast (Can't We Just Kill Each Other in Peace)"(with The Gregory Brothers)—"Get Back Up"(with The Gregory Brothers)2019—"Drop It"(with Party In Backyard)2020—"Please Jack"(featuring Hello3itch and lil Radio)2021—"Little Green Alien"(with Public Syndrome)2022—"The Best Thing"(with Feziboy)2023—

Filmography Film Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes 202115 Months Short film Bloodborne Acting

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations