Ross Kenry O'Donovan (born 17 June 1987), also known as RubberNinja and RubberRoss, is an Australian animator, voice actor, and Internet personality. He is known for his solo work as a Twitchstreamer, as well as his YouTube and Newgrounds cartoons and animations. He co-hosted the internet show Steam Train, a spin-off of YouTube Let's Play series Game Grumps.[2]
O'Donovan began his career by posting animated shorts to Newgrounds under the name "RubberNinja". He would later establish a YouTube channel and begin uploading content there. His best known work was the series Gamer Tonight, which was produced for the ABC2 video game-based program Good Game.[6] The series featured a fictitious talk show whose host, voiced by frequent-collaborator Arin Hanson, would interview various types of gamers.[7]
He also created the show Gameoverse, which featured Hanson in every speaking role. Gameoverse has since been put on hiatus, though O'Donovan has confirmed the series will return.[8]
In August 2014, O'Donovan uploaded a video expressing his concerns with animation videos on YouTube. Discussing the changes made to YouTube's algorithms, he stated that the website was now accommodating live-action videos over animated videos due to the algorithm's emphasis on retention time and upload frequencies which would impede animation channels.[9]
In 2013, after Jon Jafari's departure from the YouTube Let's Play series Game Grumps, co-host Arin Hanson launched a second show on the Game Grumps platform. Originally conceptualized by O'Donovan,[10] the show Steam Train had O'Donovan joined by Ninja Sex Party vocalist Dan Avidan, where both would play PC games (the title referencing online retailer Steam).[11][12]
In June 2015, O'Donovan launched a 5-episode miniseries on the Game Grumps channel called Guild Grumps. O'Donovan mentored 4 members of the Game Grumps crew in a 5-day race to advance from Level 90 to Level 100 in the Warlords of Draenor expansion of World of Warcraft.[13]
After Game Grumps
In 2020, O'Donovan left Game Grumps on good terms, to prioritize making his own content.[14][15] He has returned on multiple occasions as a guest and made a brief cameo in a video commemorating the series' 10th anniversary.[16] His new YouTube channel, RubberRoss, reached over 1 million subscribers in 2022.[14]
In August 2020, O'Donovan was the target of a controversial advertising campaign by Burger King and the ad agency Ogilvy. The companies used a feature on Twitch that allows viewers to donate small amounts of money in order to broadcast unsolicited advertisements. Clips from these streams were later used in a video advertisement.[17] O'Donovan made a series of tweets criticizing the campaign, calling the practice "scummy as hell".[18] The tweets, as well as additional statements from O'Donovan, were used in articles by BBC, Kotaku, and PC Gamer while reporting on the issue.[19][20][21] Since September 2021, O'Donovan's YouTube videos have primarily consisted of him and other artists collaborating within the online GarticPhone game.[22]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
