How ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’ Spawned A Scary Video Game Franchise
Scott Cawthon/YouTubeFive Nights at Freddy’s features seemingly innocent animatronic characters that turn homicidal at night.
Indie game developer Scott Cawthon released Five Nights at Freddy’s in 2014 after receiving criticism that the characters in a previous family-friendly game he’d created looked like scary animatronic creatures. He embraced the comment and created a horror video game about homicidal animatronics that roam a pizza restaurant after closing time.
In the game, players take on the role of Mike Schmidt, a night security guard at the restaurant. The main objective is to complete all five night shifts without falling victim to one of the animatronics. Players cannot leave the office and must monitor security cameras to see if one of the eerie creatures is approaching. They can shut doors to keep them out, but doing so uses up a limited supply of power.
Scott Cawthon/Steel Wool StudiosThe evil Freddy Fazbear attacks the night security guard.
Five Nights at Freddy’s earned mixed reviews from critics upon its release, but it soon became an internet sensation as one of history’s scariest video games. Its success sparked nine sequels, various spin-offs, books, and even a 2023 film.
Matthew Patrick, a YouTuber and expert on video game lore, had this to say about the game, as reported by Vulture in 2023:
“You could play through one of the early games of Five Nights at Freddy’s in about three hours. But as you do it, you’d fixate on these small details. The number of buttons on an animatronic, or a background detail shifting based on your camera angle, things like that. In a lot of other games, if a character has extra toes or whatever, you’d just assume that the developer forgot, or that it’s a bug or whatever. But in Five Nights at Freddy’s, there are no coincidences.”
