Popular YouTuber Jacksepticeye, real name Seán William McLoughlin, has shared the disappointing news that a Soma animated show he spent a year developing has been canceled, leaving him deeply disheartened. In a candid video titled 'A Bad Month,' he opened up about the emotional toll of the project's collapse and how it disrupted his creative plans for 2025.
The animated series was based on Soma, the acclaimed survival horror sci-fi game developed by Frictional Games and released in 2015. Known for its deep narrative and existential themes, Soma quickly became one of Jacksepticeye’s all-time favorite games. He frequently streamed it upon release and has since praised it as one of the best storytelling experiences in gaming.
In the video, Jacksepticeye revealed the extent of his involvement: “I was planning to do a Soma animated show. Because I love Soma — Soma is top five, top 10 at least video games of all time for me. I absolutely love that game. It has one of the best stories ever in a video game.”
He explained that he had been in discussions with the developers for over a year, with plans to move into full production. Excited to share the project with his audience, he even held off on re-streaming the game in anticipation of the official announcement.
“Because I wanted to play the game all in one video. And I was like, okay, I’ll hold off on that then till we can announce that we’re doing it. So that’s why I haven’t done it yet.”
However, the project suddenly fell apart when an unnamed party decided to go in a different direction. Jacksepticeye chose not to disclose specific details, citing emotional distress over how things unfolded.
“We were making really great progress on that, and then it all just fell apart out of nowhere,” he said. “I’m not going to go into too many of the specifics of what happened, because I’m quite upset about what actually went down. But, it’s more of a, ‘we’re going in a different direction,’ kinda vibe. And that really upset me.”
The cancellation upended his entire creative roadmap. He had structured his 2025 content plans around the show, expecting to dedicate significant time and energy to its development.
“I had planned a lot of my year around it. I was like, you know what? I won’t be able to upload as much because I’ll be focusing everything I have into that. But at least I’ll have a really cool creative thing to show off. And I’ll have something for you and we can talk about it and share it and be part of this thing together and have fun with it. And then it all fell apart.”
With his plans now overturned, Jacksepticeye expressed uncertainty about his next steps: “So all of my plans for the year are flipped upside down. Now what is the priority? What am I doing? I don’t know. I’ve had so many calls over the last couple of weeks. It’s been a lot. It’s been a tough month. I took time off and did all that and I have nothing at the end of it. It’s so frustrating. I hate that.”
Frictional Games, the studio behind Soma, has not yet commented on the canceled project. The developer has shifted its creative focus in recent years, as indicated by creative director Thomas Grip in July 2023 following the release of Amnesia: The Bunker. He noted the studio’s intention to explore emotional depth beyond traditional horror, aiming to deliver immersive, narrative-driven experiences—even if they don’t fall strictly within the horror genre.
“While all of our games have been horror in some way, what we really try to do is to get a kind of playable immersion,” Grip explained. “We want to give the player some sort of immersive fantasy, be that being a [World War 1] soldier trapped in a bunker or a robot stuck at the bottom of the ocean. Horror games naturally are where emotions are front and centre. Games really excel at this. However, we are also exploring themes outside of making things spooky.”
As Jacksepticeye works through this setback, fans remain supportive, hopeful that new creative ventures will soon take shape. [ttpp]
