In a candid new video titled 'A Bad Month,' popular YouTuber Jacksepticeye, whose real name is Seán William McLoughlin, shared his disappointment over the cancellation of a Soma animated show he had been working on for a year. Soma, a critically acclaimed survival horror science fiction video game developed by Frictional Games, was released in 2015. Jacksepticeye, a long-time fan of the game, had been actively involved in planning an animated adaptation, which he described as a significant creative project.
"I had a very large creative project that I was very excited to do," Jacksepticeye explained in the video. "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. It has one of the best stories ever in a video game."
Despite his enthusiasm and the project's readiness to move into full production, the show fell apart unexpectedly. Jacksepticeye hinted that the decision came from an unnamed party who wanted to take the project in a "different direction," leaving him "quite upset" and unwilling to delve into specifics.
Jacksepticeye was working on a Soma animated show. Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for QTCinderella.
The cancellation has significantly disrupted Jacksepticeye's plans for 2025, as he had intended to focus heavily on the project. "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."
The sudden change has left him questioning his priorities and next steps, describing the past month as tough and frustrating. "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."
Following the release of Soma, Frictional Games continued to expand the Amnesia series with Amnesia: Rebirth in 2020 and Amnesia: The Bunker in 2023. In a statement from July 2023, Frictional's creative director Thomas Grip expressed the company's intention to shift focus from horror to explore other emotional qualities in their games. "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 said, indicating a broader approach to game development that might influence future projects.
