American YouTubers Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach and Ethan “CrankGameplays” Nestor recalled in a livestream their YouTube project Unus Annus, which they started 6 years ago.
Who are the YouTubers? In the American space, the two YouTubers Markiplier and CrankGameplays are big names. Markiplier has over 37 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. CrankGameplays, who has since renamed himself “Ethan Nestor”, boasts 2 million subscribers on his YouTube channel (as of November 21, 2025, 1:00 PM).
Both are mainly known for their Let’s Plays and general gaming content on the platform. However, for the Unus Annus project, they produced a different kind of YouTube videos together in 2019.
The YouTuber Markiplier became particularly known through playing the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” games. You can see the trailer for one part of the series here:
“Remember that you will die”
What was this channel about? On November 13, 2019, Markiplier and Ethan Nestor created the YouTube channel “Unus Annus” and announced what they planned for the coming year. Every day, a video would be uploaded on the channel, and in one year, the entire channel along with all videos would be deleted.
There would be no backup channel and no permission for the community to upload the videos elsewhere.
The name “Unus Annus” is Latin and translates to “One Year”. The channel’s motto was “Memento Mori”, also Latin, which means “Remember that you will die”. The aesthetic of the channel revolved around black and white, which also reflected the two YouTubers: Markiplier was dressed in a white suit, while Ethan Nestor was in black.
The content of the videos varied, but revolved around the two of them trying out anything. Sometimes they tried out a specific sport, other times Markiplier taught Ethan Nestor how to wrestle, or they did each other’s makeup in the dark. At the beginning of each video, a countdown was displayed, indicating the remaining lifetime of the channel.
Deletion despite over 4.5 million subscribers
How did the channel end? The YouTube channel reached over 4.5 million subscribers and 800 million views before its deletion.
Right on November 13, 2020, the channel was deleted. Markiplier and Ethan Nestor came together in one last livestream to experience the final moments of the channel together with the community. Although some from the community protested against the deletion of the channel, the two YouTubers followed through with their project and deleted everything.
If old videos of Unus Annus are still uploaded today, the two YouTubers take action against it. They want to protect the concept of the project at all costs and have reuploads of the videos removed. Compilations of funny moments or images are allowed, but not the copying of the content.
What significance does the YouTube project have? The community not only created fan art about the project, Markiplier, and Ethan Nestor, they also took the motto of the channel to heart. The countdown repeatedly reminded viewers of the finiteness of the channel.
Although the YouTube channel Unus Annus was deleted, it remains forever in the memories of fans and is considered one of the most influential projects in the American YouTube community. Exactly what Markiplier and Ethan Nestor aimed for. Unus Annus is considered unique since hardly anyone would voluntarily want to delete such a successful channel.
What do the two say about the project now? In a recent YouTube livestream, Markiplier and Ethan Nestor reminisced about the YouTube channel in honor of the anniversary on November 13. In the memorial stream, they talked about the logistics of having to upload a video every day and emphasized that the deletion of the channel was necessary to reinforce the project’s message.
They also state that the channel significantly contributed positively to their friendship.
Markiplier is known for repeatedly using his reach for charitable purposes. He promised his community to upload nude pictures on OnlyFans if they brought his podcasts into the charts. He donated the proceeds. You can read more about it here on MeinMMO: YouTube: Markiplier (33) promises fans he will open an OnlyFans account – if they meet 2 conditions
