The creator of Five Nights at Freddy's says he's retiring amid backlash from his controversial political donations coming to light. Released in 2014, Five Nights at Freddy's started as an indie survival horror game that rocketed in popularity thanks to streamers and YouTubers. Though watching others play the games is still popular today, many dedicated fans in the FNAF community concoct theories to solve the series’s lore. Over the years, Scott Cawthon, creator of the series, would tease and sometimes confirm aspects of the universe lore between game releases.
Prominent YouTube channel The Game Theorists worked with along with the online community to piece together the franchise’s timeline of events and actors. Researchers attain the hidden clues by combing through all of the series' games, spin-offs, and books. Theory-crafting is no easy feat, as seemingly every entry in the franchise is canonical in some way. Several books have already been released in 2021 in the current eleven-part Fazbear Frights series, with the next book releasing in July. The upcoming Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach is the ninth game in the main series canon and continues the story from Help Wanted, but it may mark the last time Scott Cawthon is involved in a FNAF game release.
As reported by Polygon, a post on Scott Cawthon's says he plans to step away from game development. Cawthon’s decision comes on the heels of fans learning his political donations to several problematic politicians, including former President Trump and other far-right figures. Some fans took umbrage with his donations, resulting in Cawthon trending on Twitter with the connotation of him being a homophobe, though some in the LGBTQ+ community have defended his character. Cawthon says that he has been doxxed and received threats to him and his family - Cawthon has five children with his wife, who is currently pregnant with their sixth child. He took to Reddit to defend his decision, stating:
“I'd like to think that the last seven years would have given me the benefit of the doubt in regards to how I try to treat people, but there I was, trending on Twitter for being a homophobe, getting doxed, with people threatening to come to my house […] All this because I exercised my right, and my duty, as an American citizen, to vote for and support the candidates who I felt could best run the country, for everyone, and that's something that I won't apologize for.”
Cawthon pointed to donations of his to several Democrat politicians, stating that support is not limited to one party. On his website, Cawthon says that FNAF will eventually be run by someone new of his choosing when he departs. When and who that developer or studio may be is unknown as of this writing, but he says that an announcement will come after he makes a decision. It's an unexpected development for the series to be sure.
Though Cawthon is retiring from game development, Five Nights at Freddy's is still receiving a movie adaptation and more books are possibly in the works after the Fazbear Fright series ends. His involvement in those projects is not mentioned in either post, but it doesn't seem entirely likely the developer will stop so abruptly. Whether or not Cawthon returns to the franchise, FNAF has already cemented itself in gaming pop culture and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon.
Source: Reddit, Scott Games (via Polygon)
https://ift.tt/3zB1kPJ
June 18, 2021 at 12:37AM
