Ross O'Donovan

From Perth to Newgrounds: Animation Roots

Ross Kenry O'Donovan was born on 17 June 1987 in Perth, Western Australia, to Irish Catholic parents. His father, Donough, was a GP and a traditional Irish music guitarist born in Dublin. His sister, Rebecca, is a journalist in Australia married to cricketer Shaun Marsh. O'Donovan attended Corpus Christi College and later studied and instructed animation at the Film and Television Institute of Western Australia in Fremantle, laying the formal groundwork for his career.

He began his public creative career by posting animated shorts to the influential Flash portal Newgrounds under the name RubberNinja. This platform was crucial for early internet animators. He later established a YouTube channel to upload his content. A significant early breakthrough was the series Gamer Tonight, produced for the ABC2 video game program Good Game. This series featured a fictitious talk show whose host, voiced by his frequent collaborator Arin Hanson, would interview various types of gamers, blending animation with gaming culture commentary.

In August 2014, O'Donovan uploaded a video expressing deep concerns about the viability of animation on YouTube. He discussed changes to the platform's algorithms, stating that the site was accommodating live-action videos over animated ones. He argued this shift was due to the algorithm's emphasis on viewer retention time and frequent upload schedules, factors that inherently disadvantaged the slower, more labor-intensive animation process.

The Game Grumps Era and Steam Train

O'Donovan's role expanded significantly in 2013 following Jon Jafari's departure from the Let's Play series Game Grumps. Co-host Arin Hanson launched a second show on the platform based on O'Donovan's original concept. This show was Steam Train, where O'Donovan was joined by Ninja Sex Party vocalist Dan Avidan to play PC games, with the show's title referencing the online retailer Steam. This partnership integrated him into one of YouTube's most popular gaming channels.

His creative contributions to Game Grumps extended beyond co-hosting. In June 2015, he launched a five-episode miniseries on the channel called Guild Grumps. In this series, O'Donovan mentored four members of the Game Grumps crew in a five-day race to advance from Level 90 to Level 100 in the Warlords of Draenor expansion for World of Warcraft, a format that presented a different, more competitive style of gaming content.

O'Donovan left Game Grumps in 2020 on good terms, stating his desire to prioritize making his own independent content. His departure was amicable, and he has returned on multiple occasions as a guest. He also made a brief cameo in a video commemorating the series' tenth anniversary, maintaining a connection to the community he helped build.

Building a Solo Career as RubberRoss

After leaving Game Grumps, O'Donovan focused on his independent YouTube channel, RubberRoss, which reached a milestone of over one million subscribers in 2022. His content strategy evolved significantly. Since September 2021, his YouTube videos have primarily consisted of him collaborating with other artists within the online social drawing game Gartic Phone, fostering a community around collaborative creativity and humor.

His prominence as a Twitch streamer led to his involvement in a major 2020 controversy. In August of that year, Burger King and the advertising agency Ogilvy targeted O'Donovan's stream using a Twitch feature that allows viewers to donate small amounts to broadcast unsolicited advertisements. Clips from these streams were later compiled into a video advertisement for the company. O'Donovan responded with a series of tweets criticizing the campaign, calling the practice scummy as hell. His criticism and subsequent statements were featured in news articles by the BBC, Kotaku, and PC Gamer while they reported on the ethical issues of the marketing tactic.

O'Donovan has also been involved in voice-over work for video games, with credits listed for various projects tied to his time with Game Grumps. His online presence extends to social media where he engages his audience, promoting his work as an animator and the creator of Gameoverse.

Creator and Showrunner: Gameoverse

A defining project of O'Donovan's career is Gameoverse. In January 2026, the Australian studio Glitch Productions announced it had partnered with O'Donovan and Arin Hanson for the release of this series. Gameoverse is a reboot of a 2009 webseries originally created by O'Donovan. He serves as the creator, co-writer, and showrunner for the new production.

The pilot episode for the revived Gameoverse was released in May 2026 on the Glitch Productions YouTube channel. This project represents a culmination of his skills as an animator, writer, and director, bringing his original concept to a new audience with professional studio backing. His dedication to the series underscores his long-term commitment to animated storytelling.

Personal Life and Family

On 29 September 2012, O'Donovan married Holly Conrad, a cosplayer, propmaker, and special effects artist known for appearances in Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope and Heroes of Cosplay. Their relationship was public within the fan community. On 19 September 2018, Conrad and O'Donovan announced on their respective Twitter pages that they would be splitting up amicably. The announcement cited Conrad's decision to move to Seattle as the reason for the separation.

On 9 April 2021, O'Donovan announced on Twitter the personal loss of his mother, who had died due to lung cancer. This event highlighted the personal challenges he has faced while maintaining his public career.

Philanthropy and Community Impact

Beyond entertainment, O'Donovan has contributed to charitable causes through his platform. As of 2015, he and the Game Grumps team had raised over 70,000 dollars by hosting charity livestreams on Twitch. This effort demonstrates the use of his streaming presence for philanthropic goals, engaging his community to support various charities.

His career trajectory from Newgrounds animator to successful streamer and showrunner also illustrates a broader impact on internet culture. He represents a bridge between the early era of web Flash animation and the modern landscape of live streaming and independent content production, influencing a generation of creators.