Scott Cawthon

Scott Cawthon is a video game developer, animator, and writer, best known as the creator of the Five Nights at Freddy's game franchise.[1] Cawthon has created other games such as The Desolate Hope and There is No Pause Button!, as well as Christian-based animations such as A Christmas Journey and The Pilgrim's Progress. Cawthon used Autodesk 3ds Max to create 3D models of objects and characters for his games (such as Five Nights at Freddy's), as well as Clickteam Fusion 2.5 to develop them.[2]

Scott Cawthon
Born	July 26, 1971 Houston, Texas, U.S.
Education	The Art Institute of Houston
Occupation	Video game designer, animator, writer, director
Years active	1995—present
Notable work	Five Nights at Freddy's
Website	www.scottgames.com

Career

Cawthon's career in game design and animation began in the 1990s. Cawthon revealed his first game (titled Doofas) during a livestream;[3] he made the game when he was a child. This game later became a troll game as the "demo" of Ultimate Custom Night. His first official games were released in the early 2000s, one of the earliest known being RPG Max, released in 2002. He later joined Hope Animation, where he created animations for children based on Christian values.

It is rumored that sometime in the early 2000s Cawthon wrote an online cookbook for entry-level Mormon chefs entitled "The Church of Fatter-Day Saints: A Mormon Guide to Cooking" under the pseudonym Kyle Fatts. The cookbook is considered to be extremely rare, and only one screenshot of the cover in early development exists.

On March 19, 2007, Cawthon uploaded the first part of an eight-part series titled The Pilgrim's Progress to his YouTube channel. The animation is a retelling of John Bunyan's novel of the same name.[4] After releasing The Pilgrim's Progress, Cawthon developed several games, including Sit N' Survive, Chipper and Sons Lumber Co., and The Desolate Hope. Some of these were submitted to Steam Greenlight. While The Desolate Hope made it through the process, some games, most notably Chipper and Sons Lumber Co., were heavily criticized by prominent reviewers for having characters that moved and interacted with each other like animatronic machines. While initially discouraged, almost to the point of stopping game development completely, Cawthon eventually decided to use the animatronic-like characters to his advantage, sparking the development of Five Nights at Freddy's.[5]

Five Nights at Freddy's

On June 13, 2014, Cawthon submitted Five Nights at Freddy's to Steam's Greenlight system. A trailer was released the following day on June 14 with a demo following on July 24, 2014. On July 24, 2014, he then submitted it to both IndieDB, where it gained a massive amount of popularity. He submitted the game a third time to Desura on August 13, 2014. The game was accepted in Steam's Greenlight on August 18, 2014 and was released for $4.99 The game was well received by critics,[6] and became the subject of numerous popular Let's Play videos on YouTube.

On November 10, 2014, Cawthon released the first sequel titled, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 for $7.99 on Steam.

Soon after the release of Five Nights at Freddy's 2, Cawthon removed all information from his official site and replaced it with an image of the word "offline". The website soon began to show teasers of Five Nights at Freddy's 3, which was released on March 2, 2015.

On July 23, 2015, Cawthon released the fourth game of the Five Nights at Freddy's horror series, entitled, Five Nights at Freddy's 4. A free "Halloween" update was released on October 31, 2015.

On September 15, 2015, Cawthon announced the development of a new role-playing video game (RPG), titled FNaF World. The game is not a horror game; rather, it is a stylized RPG. It was released on January 21, 2016.[7] Four days later, Cawthon pulled it from Steam, not satisfied with the results, and released an improved version on Gamejolt for free on February 8.[8]

In December 2015, Scott Cawthon released teasers for his first novel, Five Nights at Freddy's: The Untold Story, soon to be renamed Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes. The book was released on December 17, 2015, as an e-book for The Amazon; a paperback edition is also available. According to Cawthon, the book was released earlier than its planned release date due to a mistake on Amazon's part.[9]

On May 21, 2016, Cawthon released a teaser trailer for Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, featuring two new animatronics as well as circus-themed variations of Foxy and Freddy from the series. The game was released on October 7, 2016, and was generally well received. Cawthon then released a free custom night update on December 2, with "Golden Freddy Mode" being added to the update soon after.[10]

On June 24, 2016, Cawthon announced that he had made a three-book deal with Scholastic Corporation and that the first book (The Silver Eyes) would be reprinted on paperback in October that year, with the second and third being released in 2017 and 2018.[11]

On June 27, 2017, Cawthon's second novel, Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones, was released. It was the sequel to The Silver Eyes, and its story follows the main character, Charlie, who is "drawn back into the world of her father's frightening creations" when she tried to get over the events of The Silver Eyes.[12] On August 29, 2017, Cawthon released the first official guidebook of Five Nights at Freddy's, entitled The Freddy Files. It contains character profiles, easter eggs, tips on playing the games, and theories sprouted from the franchise.[13]

On July 3, 2017, Cawthon announced the cancellation of a sixth main installment to Five Nights at Freddy's, after previously stating a month earlier that a sixth game was in the works. He reasoned that it was because he had been neglecting other important things in his life, but said that he was not planning to abandon the series and may release a FNaF World-styled spin-off game in the future.[14] However, with the release of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator on December 4, 2017, this was confirmed to be a troll.[15][16]

On December 26, 2017, Cawthon released the second guidebook for Five Nights at Freddy's called Survival Logbook. Unlike previous book releases, Survival Logbook has no listed Amazon Kindle editions, implying that it has pages designed for physical writing as opposed to simply reading from a device. The book, disguised as a normal children's activity book, contains many things to do, including a word search, grid drawing, and fill-in-the-blank activities, however all of these were found to hold secrets involving the lore.[17][18]

On June 26, 2018, the third novel in the Five Nights at Freddy's book series, Five Nights at Freddy's: The Fourth Closet, was revealed on Amazon.com and was slated for release that same day.[19]

On June 28, 2018, the presumed send-off to the series, Ultimate Custom Night, was released on Steam for free. It features over 50 characters from the franchise.

In Cawthon's Upcoming Projects post on Steam, he noted that the deals for the console ports have been signed, as well as more info on the virtual reality and augmented reality games. He also announced that a new book series, Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights, is coming.[20]

On August 27, 2018, Cawthon commented on a post regarding Fredbear's true voice in UCN, "I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of Kellen in the FNAF universe. His work isn't done yet," hinting that he is possibly developing an eighth game.[21]

On May 28, 2019, Cawthon released the teased virtual game, Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted for both PC & PlayStation VR at $29.99. A DLC update, Curse of Dreadbear, was released on October 23, 2019 for $9.99.

In September 2019, a teaser[22] and announcement[23] trailers were posted to Illumix's YouTube channel regarding the AR game. The title was revealed to be Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery. It was released for free on November 25, 2019 to iOS & Android.

In November 2019, Cawthon announced that he would create a game specifically for a fundraising event for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital being held by MatPat along with fellow YouTubers Dawko, and Markiplier on a livestream. The game, Freddy in Space 2 was released December 3[24] on GameJolt, included dollar amounts hidden throughout that dictated how much Cawthon would donate following the stream. He boasted a total of $500,000 was available to find but included that it was difficult and doubted they’d be able to find it as his playtester had taken five hours to complete the game. Originally, the game had a two-hour slot to be featured in the livestream, however Markiplier continued playing after the stream had ended and managed to find a final hidden $100,000 that raised the total end amount for Cawthon to donate to $451,200. Cawthon then went on to donate the full $500,000 to St. Jude's.

On December 26, 2019, the first book in the seven-book series, Fazbear Frights #1 - Into the Pit was released on Amazon.com in Kindle & Paperback formats.[25] The next five books also had their release dates announced along with their titles. The next five books will be released in 2020 while the last one will be released in 2021:

1. Book #2: Fetch, releasing March 3[26]
2. Book #3: 1:35 AM, releasing May 5[27]
3. Book #4: Step Closer, releasing July 7[28]
4. Book #5: Bunny Call, releasing September 1
5. Book #6: Blackbird, releasing December 26 .
6. Book #7: The Breaking Wheel, releasing March 2 2021

Five Nights at Freddy's film

Warner Bros. Pictures announced in April 2015 that it had acquired the rights to adapt the series to film. Roy Lee, David Katzenberg, and Seth Grahame-Smith were set to produce. Grahame-Smith stated that they would collaborate with Cawthon "to make an insane, terrifying and weirdly adorable movie".[29] In July 2015, Gil Kenan signed to direct the adaptation and co-write it with Tyler Burton Smith.[30]

In January 2017, Cawthon stated that partially due to "problems within the movie industry as a whole", the film "was met with several delays and roadblocks" and it was "back at square one", but he promised "to be involved with the movie from day one this time, and that's something extremely important to me. I want this movie to be something that I'm excited for the fanbase to see."[31][32]

In March 2017, Cawthon tweeted a picture at Blumhouse Productions, suggesting the film had a new production company.[33][34]

In May 2017, producer Jason Blum confirmed the news, claiming he was excited and working closely with Cawthon on the adaptation.[35]

In June 2017, Gil Kenan said he was no longer directing the Five Nights at Freddy's film after Warner Bros. Pictures' turnaround.[36]

On February 13, 2018, Blumhouse Productions revealed on Twitter that Chris Columbus would be working on the film as a director, alongside producing it with Blum and Cawthon.[37]

In August 2018, Scott Cawthon posted a Steam forum, in which he states that the movie will be based on the first game, and that if second and third movies are made, they will be based on FNaF 2 and FNaF 3, respectively.[20]

Films

Title	Release	Notes
College Demo Reel	1995	N/A
Birdvillage : The Movie	2001	Birdvillage series
Birdvillage Beak's Vacation	2001	Birdvillage series
Birdvilage Beak's Snowball Fight	2001	Birdvilage series
Birdvillage Second Nest	2002	Birdvillage series
A Mushsnail Tale	2003	Mushsnail series
Return To Mushsnail: The Legend of The Snowmill	2003	Mushsnail series
Return To Mushsnail: The Legend of The Snowmill Bloopers	2003	Mushsnail series
Noah's Ark: Story of The Biblical Flood	2004	Noah's Ark
A Christmas Journey: About the Blessings God Gives	2006	N/A
Christmas Symbols	2006	N/A
The Pilgrim's Progress	2007	The Pilgrim's Progress
Bible Plays series	2010	N/A
Rock 'N learn series	2010	N/A
The Jesus Kids' Club series	2010	Distributed by Faithcape
Strawinsky and the Mysterious House	2013	N/A
Five Nights at Freddy's	TBA	Five Nights at Freddy's series

Video games

Title	Genre	Release Date (some estimated)	Notes
Doofas	Action	1990s	Doofas series
Floppy Disk	Attack	1995	N/A
RPG Max RPG Issorkshop Max	RPG	2002	RPG Max Knight series
RPG Max 2 RPG Max 2.0	RPG	2003	RPG Max Knight series
Lost Island	Action	2003	N/A
Elemage	RPG	2003	Connection with RPG Max Knight series
Mega Knight	RPG	2003	N/A
Dank Knight	Action	2003	RPG Max Knight series
Dungeon	Action	2003	N/A
Dinostria	RPG	2003	N/A
Phantom Core: The Moon Mission	Action	2003	Stellar Gun series
War	Attack	2003	N/A
Gunball	Shoot 'em up	2003	Stellar Gun series
Stellar Gun	Shoot 'em up	2003	Stellar Gun series
Ships of Chaos	Shoot 'em up	2003	N/A
Legacy of Flan Legend of Flan	RPG	2003	Legacy of Flan series
Legacy of Flan 2: Flans Online Legacy of Flan: Online / Legend of Flan 2	RPG	2003	Legacy of Flan series
Legacy of Flan 2: Online! version 2.0	RPG	2003	Legacy of Flan series
Legacy of Flan 3: Storm of Hades Legacy of Flan: Storm of Hades / Legend of Flan 3	RPG	2003	Legacy of Flan series Connections with Elemage characters and RPG Max Knight
Flannville Flannville Online	MMORPG	2004	Flannville series
Junkyard Apocalypse	Platformer	2004	N/A
Moon Minions	RPG	2004	N/A
Flannville 2	RPG	2005	Flannville series
Metroid: Ripped Worlds	Platformer	2005	Metroid fan-game
Legend of White Whale	RPG	2005	Mushsnail series
Chup's Quest	RPG	2005	Mushsnail Series
The Misadventures of Sigfreid The Dark Elf on a Tuesday Night	Beat 'em up	2006	N/A
Bogart	Beat 'em up	2006	Bogart series
Bogart 2: Return of Bogart	Beat 'em up	2006	Bogart series
Light from Above	MMORPG	2006	N/A
Weird Colony	RPG	2007	N/A
M.O.O.N.	Platformer	2007	N/A
Legacy of Flan 4: Flan Rising Legacy of Flan: Flan Rising	RPG	2007	Legacy of Flan series Connection with backgrounds from The Pilgrim's Progress
The Desolate Room	RPG	2007	The Desolate Hope series
Iffermoon	Attack	2008	N/A
The Powermon Adventure!	RPG	2011	Pokémon fan-game
Doomsday Picnic RPG	Beat 'em up	2011
Slumberfish!	Puzzle	2011	Slumberfish series
Slumberfish!: Catching Z's	Puzzle	2011	Slumberfish! series
The Pligrim's Progress: The Video Games	RPG	2011	N/A
The Desolate Hope	Action, RPG	2012	The Desolate Hope series
Chipper and Sons Lumber Co.	Adventure, Simulation	2013	N/A
Cropple	Puzzle	2013	N/A
Use Holy Water!	Attack	2013	N/A
Forever Quester	Action	2013	N/A
Golden Galaxy	Action	2013	The Desolate Hope series
20 Useless Apps	Compilation	2013	N/A
Slumberfish!	Puzzle	2013	N/A
Aquatic Critters Slots	Slot Machine	2013	N/A
Bad Waiter Tip Calculator	Puzzle	2013	N/A
Mafia! Slot Machine	Slot Machine	2013	N/A
Pimp My Dungeon	Strategy	2013	N/A
Platinum Slots Collection	Slot Machine	2013	N/A
Scott's Fantasy Slots	Slot Machine	2013	N/A
Spooky Scan	Puzzle	2013	N/A
Vegas Fantasy Jackpot	Slot Machine	2013	N/A
Vegas Fantasy Slots	Slot Machine	2013	N/A
Vegas Wild Slots	Slot Machine	2013	N/A
Fart Hotel	Arcade	2014	N/A
Pogoduck	Arcade	2014	N/A
Gemsa	Puzzle	2014	N/A
8-Bit RPG Creator	RPG	2014	N/A
Shell Shatter	Puzzle	2014	N/A
Chubby Hurdles	Runner	2014	N/A
Sit 'N Survive	Strategy	2014	N/A
Kitty in the Crowd	Arcade	2014	N/A
Bible Story Slots	Slot Machine	2014	N/A
Dark Prisms	Puzzle	2014	N/A
Hawaiian Jackpots	Slot Machine	2014	N/A
Jumbo Slots Collection	Slot Machine	2014	N/A
Magnum Slots Collection	Slot Machine	2014	N/A
V.I.P. Woodland Casino	Slot Machine	2014	N/A
Fighter Mage Bard	RPG	2014	N/A
There Is No Pause Button!	Runner	2014	There Is No Pause Button!
Rage Quit	Runner	2014	There Is No Pause Button! series
Five Nights at Freddy's	Survival Horror	August 18, 2014 September 11, 2014 (Mobile) July 30, 2019 (Mobile Remaster) November 29, 2019 (Console)	Five Nights at Freddy's series
Five Nights at Freddy's 2	Survival Horror	November 10, 2014 November 20, 2014 (Mobile) October 29, 2019 (Mobile Remaster) November 29, 2019 (Console)	Five Nights at Freddy's series
FNAF3	Runner	2015	Five Nights at Freddy's series Based on There Is No Pause Button!
Five Nights at Freddy's 3	Survival Horror	March 2, 2015 March 12, 2015 (Mobile) November 29, 2019 (Console) February 4, 2020 (Mobile Remaster)	Five Nights at Freddy's series
Five Nights at Freddy's 4	Survival Horror	July 23, 2015 August 3, 2015 (Mobile) November 29, 2019 (Console) January 16, 2020 (Mobile Remaster)	Five Nights at Freddy's series
FNaF World: Halloween Edition	RPG	2015	Five Nights at Freddy's series based on Fighter Mage Bard
FNaF World	RPG	January 21, 2016 February 8, 2016 (Game Jolt)	Five Nights at Freddy's series
Sister Location: MA	Strategy	2016	Five Nights at Freddy's series based on Sit 'N Survive
Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location	Survival Horror	October 7, 2016 2016 (Mobile) March 21, 2020 (Mobile Remaster) June 18, 2020 (Nintendo Switch)	Five Nights at Freddy's series
Doofas	Action	2017 [notes 1]	Doofas series
Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator	Survival Horror	December 4, 2017 August 14, 2019 (Mobile)	Five Nights at Freddy's series
Ultimate Custom Night Demo	Attack	2018	Five Nights at Freddy's series based on Doofas
Ultimate Custom Night	Survival Horror	June 27, 2018 April 28, 2020 (Mobile)	Five Nights at Freddy's series
Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted	Survival Horror	May 28, 2019	Five Nights at Freddy's series
Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery	Action	November 25, 2019	Five Nights at Freddy's series
Freddy in Space 2	Beat 'em up	December 3, 2019	Five Nights at Freddy's series Sequel of FNaF World's minigame FNaF 57: Freddy in Space
Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach	Unknown	Late 2020	Five Nights at Freddy's series
Five Nights at Freddy's: Into Madness	Unknown	2021 (presumed)	Five Nights at Freddy's series

Cancelled

• The Desolate Abandon[38]

Books

Novels

• Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes (2015)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones (2017)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: The Fourth Closet (2018)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #1: Into the Pit (2019)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #2: Fetch (2020)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #3: 1:35 am (2020)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #4: Step Closer (2020)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #5: Bunny Call (2020)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #6: Blackbird (2020)
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #7: The Breaking Wheel (2021)

Other

• The Freddy Files (2017)
• Survival Logbook (2017)
• The Freddy Files: Updated Edition (2019)
• The Church of Fatter-Day Saints: A Mormon Guide to Cooking (early 2000s) (under Kyle Fatts)

Notes

1. While Cawthon initially released Doofas in 2017, the game was developed years before.

References

1. "Official website of Scott Cawthon".
2. https://www.clickteam.com/clickteam-blog?p=interview-of-the-author-of-a-top-paid-game-in-appstore
3. Dawko (September 16, 2017), Dawko's Charity Stream for American Red Cross PART 2, retrieved September 17, 2017
4. "The Pilgrim's Progress – Christian Movie/Film DVD". Christian Movies All in One Place, Easy to Find! CFDb!. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
5. Scott Cawthon (March 2, 2015). Five Nights at Freddy's 3 (PC). Scene: Ending (Nightmare).
6. "Five Nights at Freddy's on Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
7. "Steam Community :: Group Announcements :: Five Nights at Freddy's 4". steamcommunity.com. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
8. "Steam Community :: Group Announcements :: Five Nights at Freddy's 4". steamcommunity.com. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
9. Design&Trend (December 17, 2015). "'Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes' Novel Released Early in Kindle And Paperback [LINK]". Design & Trend. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
10. "Steam Community :: Group Announcements :: Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location". steamcommunity.com. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
11. "Scholastic & Scottgames, LLC Announce a New Book Series Based on the Bestselling Video Game Franchise Five Nights at Freddy's | Scholastic Media Room". mediaroom.scholastic.com. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
12. "Five Nights at Freddy's: Twisted Ones Novel Early Copy Out, Story Details Leaked". thebitbag.com. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
13. "'Five Nights at Freddy's: The Freddy Files' Guide Book News: New Book Reveals Secrets of the Franchise". latinpost.com. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
14. "Five Nights at Freddy's 6 Was Announced, Then Canceled". gamespot.com. July 3, 2017.
15. "Five Nights at Freddy's Creator Releases New Pizzeria Simulator". comicbook.com. December 4, 2017.
16. "NEW FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S GAME RELEASED... DISGUISED AS A PIZZERIA SIMULATOR". ign.com. December 5, 2017.
17. "Five Nights at Freddy's: Survival Logbook': New Details About Scott Cawthon's Upcoming Book". The Christian Post. June 11, 2017.
18. "'Five Nights at Freddy's: Survival Logbook' teases at more help after release of 'The Freddy Files'". International Business Times. June 12, 2017.
19. Five Nights at Freddy's: Book 3. amazon. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
20. "Upcoming Projects Mega-Thread! :: Ultimate Custom Night General Discussions". steamcommunity.com. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
21. "Fredbear has a message • r/fivenightsatfreddys". reddit. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
22. FNAF AR Teaser, retrieved February 27, 2020
23. FNAF AR: Special Delivery – Official Announcement Trailer, retrieved February 27, 2020
24. "Game Jolt – Indie games for the love of it". Game Jolt. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
25. "Into the Pit (Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #1)". Amazon.com. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
26. "Fetch (Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #2)". Amazon.com. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
27. "1:35 am (Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #3)". Amazon.com. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
28. "Step Closer (Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #4)". Amazon.com. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
29. Kit, Borys (April 7, 2015). "Video Game 'Five Nights at Freddy's' Getting Movie Treatment". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
30. Fleming Jr, Mike (October 20, 2017). "Gil Kenan To Direct 'Five Nights at Freddy's' For Warner Bros". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
31. "Back to basics: Five Nights at Freddy's movie update". Nerdvana. February 6, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
32. "'Five Nights at Freddy's' Movie Back at Square One, Says Scott Cawthon". iDigitalTimes.com. February 1, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
33. "Five Nights at Freddy's Movie Being Produced by Blumhouse". Dread Central. March 28, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
34. "Tease from Creator Hints at Blumhouse Making 'Five Nights at Freddy's' Movie". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
35. "'Five Nights at Freddy's' Movie Adaptation Will Work, Says Producer Jason Blum". The Christian Post. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
36. "Gil Kenan on Twitter: "this is sadly correct. love FNAF and the community, hoping for a great film!"". Twitter. June 21, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
37. Blumhouse (February 12, 2018). "Mr. Columbus, are you ready for Freddy? #FiveNightsatFreddyspic.twitter.com/4F7QEnw16x". @blumhouse. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
38. "Scott please read :: Five Nights at Freddy's 4 General Discussions". steamcommunity.com. Retrieved September 23, 2018.

External links

• scottgames.com
• fnafworld.com