Scott Cawthon is the creator of one of the largest, most popular indie game franchises known to date. This franchise is Five Nights at Freddy's (FNAF). What started as a last-ditch effort from Cawthon eventually became a series of 10 games, over 40 books, and even a movie. The series was initially brought to mainstream attention by YouTubers such as MatPat, Markiplier, and CoryxKensihin, among others. Over time, the fandom grew larger than anyone could imagine, with a large community of fans on social media sites such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Reddit.
Scott was originally a Christian creator, making Christian content in the form of movies and video games for over 12 years. He slowly fell further and further into financial failure and began to question his connection with God, falling into a deep depression and nearly quitting game-making altogether. Cawthon's initial approach to developing games was strictly related to God and Christian messages, but as he lost hope, he knew something needed to change. Another creative who struggled with the notion of God and religion is musician Nick Cave. He used to draw heavily from biblical imagery as a source for his songwriting. His reasoning for drawing from religion for his creative products differed from Cawthon's. While Cawthon questioned why God would keep allowing him to fail despite the toll it was taking on him, Cave questioned if God existed altogether since he was raised in an environment that did not nurture religious ideals.
Rather than continuing on the path he was on, Cawthon decided to channel the emotional toll of his life's events into a horror game. The game, called Five Nights at Freddy's, was released in August 2014. Throughout the game's creation, Cawthon relied on family and friends as beta testers to try out the game. He would take their feedback and work on it some more, eventually reaching a final product. In the game, you play as a nighttime security guard, watching over a pizzeria called Freddy's. While sitting in the office, you are attacked by four animatronics; Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, and Foxy. Using door, light, and camera mechanics, the goal is to live to 6 AM each night, which gets progressively more challenging as you move on.
Fans of the game immediately started to speculate about the lore behind the game, which likely sparked the idea for Cawthon to keep expanding upon it. Cawthon would go on to release 6 more games between 2015 and 2018, creating an entire world surrounding the characters and storylines of the games. However, after his initial blast into fame, Cawthon opted to remain outside the spotlight, letting the games speak for him. He did not like journalists, and so he was hardly ever interviewed. Fans mainly interacted with him through social media; however, he barely posted after getting backlash online for his support of conservative ideologies. Amidst the backlash, he announced his retirement in 2021. He put the franchise's future into the hands of Steel Wool Studios (who had already collaborated with games in 2019 and 2020) but was still present for some creative input. Steel Wool would release 3 games between 2021 and 2023, which many fans refer to as the new era of FNAF as one of the most significant storylines ended with Ultimate Custom Night in 2018.
Cawthon would partially come back into the spotlight during the promotional period for the Five Nights at Freddy's movie, which was loosely based on events from the games as well as the book series. Cawthon worked closely with director Emma Tammi throughout the production of the film. He also began posting more regularly on Reddit again and even attended movie screenings in a disguise to get the same experience as a fan. The movie only continued to expand the FNAF franchise as it entered the cinematic realm, acquiring fans further away from the gaming world.
Sources:
https://www.geeksundergrace.com/gaming/developer-spotlight-scott-cawthon/
https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/five-nights-at-freddys-creator-scott-hawthorn-snuck-into-screenings-wearing-a-disguise
https://www.reddit.com/r/fivenightsatfreddys/comments/96h3pn/a_transcript_of_dawkos_interview_with_scott/
https://books.apple.com/us/book/faith-hope-and-carnage/
I really enjoyed reading this post! I've never played the games myself, but I think this was super interesting to learn about how they came to be, especially after they kind of got big again with the release of the movie. I had never heard of who created the games before, so it was really cool to learn about Scott Cawthon and how the games came to be.
ReplyDeleteYasmina, although I am not well-versed in FNAF I do remember it being very significant growing up, you were considered “cool” if it didn’t end up scaring you. After reading your blog post, I find more reasons to believe that Cawthon is a modern day creative. His evolution as a game creator and the extrinsic motivation to stay financially afloat is proof that he is a creative in his own right by finding ways to express himself. My question to you is would you consider him a big c or little c creative? I know you said he doesn’t like the spotlight, but he also redefined the video game horror genre so I am caught in the middle.
ReplyDeleteHi Roy! I feel like despite his lack of enjoyment of the spotlight, he would still be considered a big c creative in my mind. He redefined what it means to have a game in the horror genre, and countless series have emerged because of his work—such as Poppy Playtime.
DeleteWhen I was younger, I was too scared after the first jumpscare to continue watching a playthrough of FNAF. I went to see the movie when it came out in theaters and I ended up watching a bunch of YouTube videos about the lore. Your blog was a really interesting read, I never would have guessed that Scott Cawthon had a background as a Christian game developer!
ReplyDelete-Thérèse Giannini
This was very insightful! I am not very familiar with the FNAF series but I always understood its influence in the horror genre and have respect for it. It was interesting to learn about Cawthon's creative process and how his financial struggles turned him away from God. The series itself is a very unique concept and away from the traditional slashers in horror. Cawthon's success must support him well if he was able to retire at 43 years old! I wonder if that means he is retired from producing video games/horror films for good or if he retired from the FNAF franchise? I also wonder how much farther the series can expand given the narrow premise of the series.
ReplyDeleteHi Marco! I believe that he has retired from creating altogether. He originally cited his reasoning for retirement as wanting to spend more time with his kids, especially now that he is at a point where the franchise allows him and his family to live comfortably. I also remember reading that he still acts as a consultant for Steel Wool and was heavily involved in the movie's production. It almost makes me feel like it was more of a "soft retirement" since he is still slightly involved. In terms of the expansion of the series, I agree that it began as a narrow premise but over time they have introduced new/modern concepts into the games, such as AI. Hopefully this reinventive thinking will allow it to continue on!
DeleteI think it is incredibly interesting the fall from religion/disillusionment with religion that Cawthorn experienced before creating these games. Something we have not discussed specifically in class but is an important part of personality and motivation is religion. This is also a topic within my focus book, The Creative Spark. Religion, and even the loss of religion, can connect people and help create shared experiences. Fuentes also discusses the supernatural elements of religion and the things that we cannot always understand. The supernatural absolutely plays a role in FNAF and there is something incredibly ungodly about those games... I would be interested in learning more about how religion has played into the lives of other creatives, or how the lack of religion has affected them.
ReplyDeleteFNAF always scared the crap out of me as a kid; it still sort of does now too. It is so interesting how the developer went from a Christian game designer to a horror jump-scare game designer with probably the most lore of any game I have ever seen. Amazing post!
ReplyDeleteI do really think that the bulk of FNAF's fame and lore is due to MatPat-- while Youtube let's-players rocketed FNAF to popular attention, I'd argue that FNAF didn't have lore until MatPat started theorizing.
ReplyDeleteThe work of Game Theory consists of taking a lot of instances and what are likely coincidences that positing what if they were meant to be connected-- which led Game Theory to have some rather infamous out of context moments, like the "Jesus-Pomni" thing and the "Sans is Ness" theory. FNAF ended up being collaborative in that sense-- Cawthon gave the random clues, and Game Theory made a coherent theory and story behind it. The reason I point this out is because I honestly think MatPat's theories make much more sense than the canon of the FNAF universe-- especially when FNAF lore building was just starting. (Really, making MatPat pregnant with Springtrap was...A Choice. One I'm very glad isn't considered canon anymore.)
I honestly don't hold Cawthon in the highest regards, mostly due to his political beliefs, but his work still stands-- it just never would have reached the heights if not for MatPat.