YouTuber Jacksepticeye, whose real name is Seán William McLoughlin, recently shared a disheartening update in his video titled 'A Bad Month.' In it, he revealed that he had spent a year working on an animated show based on the critically acclaimed survival horror game Soma, only to see the project fall through. This unexpected cancellation left him feeling "quite upset."
Soma, developed by Frictional Games—the creators of the Amnesia series—was released in 2015 to widespread praise. Jacksepticeye, a fan of the game, streamed it extensively and has often cited it as one of his top favorites. His passion for Soma fueled his excitement for the animated adaptation, which he had planned to announce to his audience once it moved into full production.
In the video, Jacksepticeye explained that the project had been progressing well until an unnamed party decided to take the project in "a different direction," leading to its abrupt collapse. He chose not to delve into the specifics due to his frustration and disappointment. Jacksepticeye's plans for 2025 had been heavily centered around the Soma animated show, and its cancellation has left him reevaluating his priorities and struggling to find direction.
"I had planned a lot of my year around it," he said. "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."
The cancellation of the Soma animated show has been part of a broader difficult period for Jacksepticeye, marked by several other projects that either got canceled or failed to progress far enough to be shared with his fans. This has led to a noticeable dip in his content creation, further adding to his frustrations.
Following Soma, Frictional Games released two more entries in their Amnesia series: Amnesia: Rebirth in 2020 and Amnesia: The Bunker in 2023. In July 2023, Frictional's creative director, Thomas Grip, expressed the company's intent to move away from solely horror-focused games to explore other emotional themes. This shift in focus could potentially impact future collaborations and projects, including those involving beloved titles like Soma.