Why The Creator Of Five Nights At Freddy's Got Kicked Off The Franchise By His Own Fans
Scott Cawthon's "Five Nights at Freddy's" is one of horror's greatest Cinderella stories. A video game developer known for making faith-based entertainment had an unlikely hit with his independently made point-and-click survival horror game, turning a relative no-name into arguably the biggest indie gaming success story. "FNaF" has become a multi-media franchise that made Cawthon a multi-millionaire, which is expected to continue after the release of the game's film adaptation from Blumhouse and Universal Pictures.
Jason Blum spoke with Fandom about the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie, saying "That game has a rabid fan base and I would say, without Scott [Cawthon], it wouldn't make a good movie." Cawthon has been intimately involved with production from the beginning, including forcing a full script rewrite, and as the creator of the franchise, his involvement feels vital.
But that interview was conducted six years ago and a lot has changed since Blum first made those comments. For one thing, Emma Tammi has taken over as the director from Chris Columbus and Cawthon has since retired from the "Five Nights at Freddy's" franchise for good. On his now-defunct website (shared by Kotaku), Cawthon announced his retirement. "I've had a blessed, fulfilling, and rich career," he wrote. "I've been shown great kindness and I've tried to show great kindness in return. I've tried to make some good games (let the debate ensue), and I've witnessed the creation of possibly the most creative and talented fanbase on the planet." Cawthon made the announcement on the seven-year anniversary of the first "Five Nights at Freddy's" trailer drop, seeing it as a fitting end.
But the circumstances surrounding Cawthon's retirement merit discussion.
The Reddit statement
"I've debated greatly how best to address this, including not addressing it at all, but with so many people from the LGBT community in the fanbase that I love, that's not an option." This quote comes from a now-locked Reddit forum posted on June 12, 2021, just 5 days before he would announce his retirement from "Five Nights at Freddy's." Earlier that week, Cawthon's political donation history went viral, and fans learned that he had donated thousands upon thousands of dollars to people like Mitch McConnell, Ben Carson, Kevin McCarthy, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Donald Trump. His sole donation to a Democratic candidate was to Tulsi Gabbard, who has a history of being anti-LGBTQIA+ and has since left the Democratic party.
"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," he wrote. He then went on to defend his political donation history and support of the twice-impeached, found legally liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and feloniously indicted former president Trump. "I've never cared about anyone's race, religion, gender, or orientation," Cawthon wrote.
That's exactly the problem.
Choosing to look at the world from a perspective that ignores the way a person's identity impacts their lived experience is a choice of willful ignorance. It's why saying things like, "I don't see color," doesn't magically make racism disappear. Similarly, his decision to point out that he donated to Black Republican Kimberly Klacik doesn't magically mean the non-white candidates he helped fund aren't actively trying to make things harder in this country for Black people. The statement ends with Cawthon saying, "If I get canceled, then I get canceled."
Well, three days later, Cawthon announced his retirement from "Five Nights at Freddy's."
You can't 'love' your fans and donate to people who will hurt them
Scott Cawthon wasn't "canceled" because he's a Republican or a Christian, but because he was willing to take the massive wealth he's acquired, much of which has come from young, LGBTQIA+ fans of his games, and use that money to vote for politicians who wish to bring them harm. His Reddit statement let fans know exactly where he stands by writing, "Even if there were candidates who had better things to say to the LGBT community directly, and bigger promises to make, I believed that their stances on other issues would have ended up doing much greater harm to those communities than good." Apparently, not having tax breaks for the rich is more harmful in his eyes than denying human beings the right to exist.
He claims that his family had been threatened and doxed in the aftermath, which I wholly do not support regardless of how archaic and harmful his belief systems are, but Cawthon seems not to understand that people are not required to support him financially if those profits are funneling into hate groups. I don't doubt that Cawthon is a kind, thoughtful person as an individual, but people like Mitch McConnell have the legitimate power to cause irreversible damage to marginalized communities, and no amount of individual love and respect from Cawthon changes that.
And so, Cawthon retired to his home with his amassed wealth and elected to shut out the people who made him a fortune. His website is shut down. His social media presence is nonexistent. But "FNaF" games will continue with other developers and the movie is still coming out. And since he retains the rights to the franchise, he will still see profits long after he's left this mortal plane. He made something special with "FNaF," but this franchise is bigger than any one individual person with misguided beliefs.
"Five Nights at Freddy's" hits theaters and Peacock on October 27, 2023.