Developer Scott Cawthon, known as the creator of the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, has announced his retirement from the gaming industry. This happened shortly after he and his pregnant wife began receiving death threats. The reason was Coughton’s political views and support for “wrong” candidates like Donald Trump.
Coughton announced his retirement on his official website. He noted that he had a rich and eventful career, and thanked the fans for their support. According to the developer, the players at Five Nights at Freddy’s managed to create one of the most “creative and talented” communities on the planet.
Coughton made the announcement on the seventh anniversary of the first trailer of his game. He noted that he was just tired and wanted to devote more time to his wife and children.
I was in my early 30s when I created this series of games. Now I'm over 40, and I realize that I miss a lot of things that I devoted my time to before Five Nights at Freddy's became a success. I miss making games for my kids; I miss developing games just for fun; I miss creating RPGs, even though I'm not good at it. All this means that I am retiring
creator of Five Nights at Freddy's
What preceded his departure from the industry?
At the beginning of the week, Coughton was publicly criticized after a list of his financial donations was published on Twitter. It turned out that the developer supported Republican candidates.
The information was taken from the OpenSecrets website, which tracks policy-related transactions of American citizens. Coughton financially supported former President Donald Trump, Senator Mitch McConnell, as well as neurosurgeon and former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson.
turns out scott cawthon, well-known as the creator of five nights at freddy’s and less known as being a christian fundie, maxed out his political donations to republican candidates and PACs in 2020. pic.twitter.com/pwgrjqx6xS
— chief imagineering officer of antifa (@IAmGryphoneer) June 10, 2021
This list turned out to be enough for active harassment of Couton to begin on social networks. Some users called it a betrayal, while others claimed that the listed policies caused irreparable harm to American minorities and representatives of the LGBTQ+ community.
However, many fans still came to Coughton’s defense and called for an end to harassment based solely on political beliefs. The hashtag #istandwithscott even got into Twitter trends (I support Scott).
I understand people who don’t like Scott’s political opinions, but you CANNOT change his mind with doxxing or harassment or threats.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion！
PLS RESPECT Scott Cawthon and Steel Wool for their amazing works. #istandbyscott #istandwithscott #FNaF pic.twitter.com/2wdFfX7NxN— ♔۞ஜ۩夜嵐💜Alatsuki Arashi۩ஜ۞♔ (@__YHL0214_FNAF) June 14, 2021
Scott Cawton’s Reaction
Shortly after the harassment began, the developer wrote a big post in the Five Nights at Freddy’s community on Reddit. He also noted that this may be his last message.
Coughton initially thought not to react to the scandal in any way, but decided to speak out, among other things, due to the presence of a large number of LGBTQ+ representatives among fans of his games. According to the developer, he has always loved and treated all people well, regardless of their skin color, religion, gender or orientation.
The last straw was the threats that came to the creator of Five Nights at Freddy’s. People called him a homophobe, leaked personal data and threatened to come to his house. His wife, who is six months pregnant, was also bullied.
“It’s already difficult for her during pregnancy, so her fear because of these threats scared me too. This happened only because I exercised my right and my civic duty to vote for candidates who, in my opinion, could better govern the country,” Coughton said.
He also noted that he is not going to apologize for his political views and support of specific people. However, Coughton decided to explain why he was the one who transferred the money and supported certain candidates.
According to the developer, he supported both Republicans and Democrats. He made his choice only on the basis of his own beliefs and expectations. For example, Coughton voted for Trump because he believed he could build a strong economy and protect U.S. interests abroad. “Even if there were candidates who promised to support the LGBT community more and better, I believed that their position on other issues would eventually cause these people much more harm than good,” he said.
At the end of the post, Coughton stated that he believes in God, equality and common sense, and is not going to give up his beliefs. “If they cancel me, then so be it. I don’t play games for money anymore,” the developer summed up.
Immediately after Coughton announced his retirement from the gaming industry, the hashtag #ThankYouScott (Thank you, Scott) hit the Twitter trends. Fans thanked the developer for the games, expressed words of support and said they would miss him.
I remember having a lot of fun playing the FNAF games with my friends, thanks for those good times Scott.
I did this a while ago, now is good chance to show it as a tribute to this amazing franchise. #ThankYouScott pic.twitter.com/aQNHVrY7zZ
— ☕ Albert Bittersweet~ ☕ (@albert_rbk) June 17, 2021
What will happen to Five Nights at Freddy’s now?
Coughton noted that his retirement does not mean the end of the famous series of games. It’s just that now another person will “rule the ball”, whom the developer will choose himself.
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach is scheduled to be released this year, which will be the ninth installment in the franchise. Also, a film adaptation of the game is currently in production, which is being handled by the Blumhouse studio.
The first part of Five Nights at Freddy’s was released in 2014 on PC, Android and iOS. The game with horror and quest elements quickly became popular among players and streamers, and also received good press ratings. Later, the indie project turned into a full-fledged franchise with many sequels, several books and one spin-off.