Seán ‘JackSepticEye’ McLoughlin, arguably YouTube’s biggest content creator after PewDiePie, came “very close” to pulling the plug on his career in 2020, after what the Irishman described as the “worst year ever.”
JackSepticEye boasts an enormous 26 million followers on YouTube, and — apart from a short hiatus in mid-2020 — has been churning out gaming videos for his dedicated fan base regularly since he first began all the way back in early 2012.
All that could have come to an end, however, the Irish superstar reveals; he’s been “seriously” toying with the idea of packing it all in, and calling time on his illustrious YouTube career.
“This has been the worst year ever… for so, so many reasons,” he said.
“My personal experience with this year hasn’t been great. I got so mentally drained [this year] that I told people close to me I was going to quit YouTube…
“I had a really long think about it all, and who Seán McLoughlin was outside of JackSepticEye. It’s not just about numbers and money, but for a long time, I didn’t know. Maybe I still don’t really know, 100% know.
“It crosses my mind all the time, like, what if I just quit YouTube?”
One of the main reasons he’s been toying with the idea, JackSepticEye said in his Dec. 31 upload, was due to ongoing health issues that have plagued him for much of 2020. The star got sick at a convention in early March, and has been struggling with the fallout ever since.
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“I miss the days where I could get up and have bundles of energy,” he said.
“I have these ongoing bowel issues that keep me up at night, and it makes it so hard to keep going… it’s killing my creativity, in so many ways. It means I look back at the videos I’ve done, and know I can do so much better.”
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The other problem, he explained, was “YouTube culture”. The popular creator has been battling with the idea that “everything you make has to be better than the last,” and if it isn’t then it’s “some personal failing” that gets strung around your neck by viewers and the platform.
“The YouTube analytics especially have been a breaking point for me… they do more harm than good. Am I the only one that thinks that? The 1 to 10 system sucks.”
For mobile readers, the related segment begins at 7:16 in the video below.
All that being said, it looks like McLoughlin has decided to stay, for now: the JackSepticEye channel won’t be going anywhere, despite the star’s struggles.
“It’s not going to be the same, I promise you. I’m not going to lay out any grand plans I have to deliver on. I’m going to do whatever the f**k I want, and make sure I enjoy creating on YouTube, and being proud of what I do,” he said.
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The popular creator currently boasts just over 28.2m followers between YouTube and Twitch. He reportedly makes €14.5m each year through his uploads.
