Scott Cawthon
Scott Braden Cawthon is an American video game developer, writer, and producer. He created Five Nights at Freddy's, a series of horror video games which expanded into a media franchise.
Cawthon began his career developing family-friendly Christian video games to minimal success. He transitioned to horror with the [Five Nights at Freddy's (video game)|first Five Nights at Freddy's game] in 2014, which was a commercial success and gained a cult following. Cawthon developed seven games in the main series and four spin-offs as of 2023.
Outside of the games, Cawthon wrote several stories for the franchise, including novels and the screenplay for the Five Nights at Freddy's film and its 2025 sequel both of which he also produced. Cawthon largely stepped away from game development in June 2021 after his political donations were publicized, leading to doxing and harassment.
Early life
Cawthon was born Scott Braden Cawthon on June 4, 1978 in Houston, Texas, to Linda and Joseph "Joe" H. Cawthon. He has one sister and one brother.Career
1996–2014: Early work
A Christian, Cawthon began his career in game development making self-funded Christian adventure games. Cawthon's first professional game was called Iffermoon. He attended the Art Institute of Houston in 1996, where he learned how to create computer graphics, and taught himself to develop games using the engine Clickteam Fusion. A member of a group of Christian artists known as Hope Animation, Cawthon also made animated Christian films.Cawthon's religious projects included The Pilgrim's Progress: The Video Game and The Desolate Hope. Based on the religious allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress: The Video Game is a JRPG-like game with enemies such as Beelzebub, Apollyon, Shame, and Giant Despair. The Desolate Hope is a hybrid role-playing game with active time battles, platforming, and top-down sections. Set in a "dark, brooding, and twisted industrial landscape", the dystopian story follows a robotic coffee pot who must rescue a fetus being used as a scientific specimen. Rock Paper Shotgun praised the game's art style, describing it as akin to a "glorious artifact from the nineties, hand-crafted bizarre". Kill Screen later wrote that the themes of adventure and the unique art style of Cawthon's early works would reappear in some of his later projects such as FNaF World. After the release of Five Nights at Freddy's, The Desolate Hope received both attention and criticism for its plot's perceived pro-life message, although Cawthon later clarified that the game "was not designed with abortion specifically in mind."
Cawthon's Christian games were generally well received but were not financially successful enough to support his wife and two children. He reluctantly stopped making religious games and instead produced cheap computer games and free-to-play mobile titles which could provide him with a steady source of income. Calum Marsh, in his profile of Cawthon for The New York Times, wrote that these games "might bring in $40 or $50 each month". He also took on programming and retail work.
In 2013, Cawthon submitted the family-friendly game Chipper & Sons Lumber Co. to Steam Greenlight. It was a resource management title featuring anthropomorphic animals; the player character was a beaver. However, players and reviewers such as James Stephanie Sterling ridiculed the game because they thought the characters were unintentionally "creepy" and resembled "scary" animatronics. One writer later described it as an example of the uncanny valley.
Cawthon's financial situation and Chipper & Sons
2014–2021: ''Five Nights at Freddy's''
Scott Cawthon–made games
Cawthon submitted Five Nights at Freddy's to Steam's Greenlight system in summer 2014, releasing a trailer and later a demo. He then submitted it to IndieDB, where it gained popularity, and submitted the game a third time to Desura. The game was accepted in Steam's Greenlight in August 2014. The game was well received by critics, and became the subject of numerous popular Let's Play videos on YouTube. A prequel, Five Nights at Freddy's 2, was released later that year on Steam. Soon after the release of Five Nights at Freddy's 2, Cawthon removed all information from his personal website and replaced it with an image of the word "offline". His website later began to show teaser images promoting Five Nights at Freddy's 3, which was released in March 2015.Five Nights at Freddy's 4 was released in 2015, with a free Halloween update following. The development of a new game, titled FNaF World, was announced, ditching the formula of the other games and instead being a role-playing video game. It was released on January 21, 2016. FNaF World received mixed reviews due to glitches and other issues, and Cawthon pulled it from Steam four days later. An altered version was released on Game Jolt for free on February 8.
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 the Foxy and Freddy characters from the series. The game was released on October 7, 2016, and was generally well received. Cawthon released the update "Custom Night" on December 1, with "Golden Freddy Mode" being added to the update soon after.
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 development. He opined that he had been neglecting other aspects of his life but said that he was not planning to abandon the series and was considering developing a FNaF World-styled spin-off game in the future. However, with the release of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator on December 4, 2017, this was confirmed to be a joke.
On June 28, 2018, the seventh main installment 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 deals for console ports have been signed, as well as announcing virtual reality and augmented reality games.
Steel Wool Studios–made games
In early 2019, Cawthon announced he had joined with video game studio Steel Wool Studios, with whom he intended to develop additional Five Nights at Freddy's games, and that he would primarily be responsible for storylines, character design, and gameplay. On May 28, 2019, Cawthon released the teased virtual reality game Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted for both PC and PlayStation VR. A DLC update, Curse of Dreadbear, was released on October 23, 2019.In September 2019, a teaser and announcement trailers were posted to Illumix's YouTube channel regarding the augmented reality game. The title was revealed to be Five Nights at Freddy's: Special Delivery. It was released for free on November 25, 2019, to iOS and Android.
On August 8, 2019, during the first game's fifth anniversary, Cawthon posted a new image on his website, teasing the tenth installment of the series. It shows a modernized shopping mall containing a laser tag arena, an arcade, a large cinema, and a Freddy Fazbear's Pizza restaurant; in the main square, '80s-style versions of Freddy Fazbear, Chica, and two new animatronics can be seen playing for an excited crowd. On September 29, 2019, Cawthon's website was updated with a new teaser featuring the character Glamrock Freddy and was followed by an updated teaser featuring the character Vanny from Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted as a shadow. On March 24, 2020, another teaser featuring a brand new alligator-like character was posted, later revealed to be called Montgomery Gator. On April 21, 2020, the characters' names were leaked from Funko's list of upcoming products, and the title was revealed as Five Nights at Freddy's: PizzaPlex. A few hours later, on April 22, 2020, Scott Cawthon confirmed the leaks via Reddit, and revealed that the title was not official and that the title was only for Funko. Cawthon announced that the game was scheduled to release in late 2020. On June 12, 2020, another teaser was released, featuring the game's antagonist, an unnamed female security guard. On August 7, 2020, a teaser of Vanny was released. One day later, Cawthon revealed the characters Glamrock Chica and Roxanne Wolf through Reddit.
On August 21, 2020, Cawthon announced his plan to help fund and publish Five Nights at Freddy's games developed by fans, bundled with previous installments in their respective series. He would not be involved in any of the creative elements but would help with marketing and publishing support as well as appropriate licensing. The games that were announced to be included were One Night at Flumpty's series, the Five Nights at Candy's series, The Joy of Creation: Ignited Collection, Popgoes Evergreen, and Five Nights at Freddy's Plus, a reimagining of the original game. Cawthon stated that these games would likely come to mobile and consoles, and may even have merchandise created for them. The first game to be released under this initiative was a port of One Night at Flumpty's for Android and iOS on October 31 and November 18, 2020, respectively. The second game to be released was a port of its sequel One Night at Flumpty's 2 on January 20, 2021, again for Android and iOS. The next game to be released was One Night at Flumpty's 3 on October 31, 2021, for PC and mobile devices, and for consoles at a later date.
On September 16, 2020, during a PlayStation 5 Showcase, it was revealed that Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach would come to PlayStation 5 featuring real-time ray tracing and free-roam gameplay. Its initial release was on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC, with other platforms coming three months later. In December 2020, Cawthon posted that Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach was delayed to 2021, stating the game's scope was too great to be finished by the end of 2020.
2021: Retirement from game development
On June 16, 2021, following a controversy where it was revealed that Cawthon had donated money to Republican Party politicians, Cawthon posted a message on his website announcing his retirement from public game development and expressing gratitude towards his followers for their ongoing support. He stated that he wished to retire in order to spend more time with his children. He intended to appoint a successor to ensure that the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise would continue, while he himself would continue to occupy a lesser role in its development. As of 2025, Cawthon has overarching creative control over the franchise and the exclusive rights over it.On October 18, 2023, Cawthon released his first video game since his retirement, Freddy in Space 3: Chica in Space which was released as a supposed tie-in game for the Five Nights at Freddy's film.
Other activities
Novels
In May 2013, Cawthon released his first literary work "The Tearing" under the pseudonym "Michael Parsins".In December 2015, Cawthon released teasers for his first novel, Five Nights at Freddy's: The Untold Story, later renamed Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes. The book was released on December 17, 2015, as an ebook for Amazon; a paperback edition is available. According to Cawthon, the book was released earlier than its planned release date due to a mistake on Amazon's part. On June 24, 2016, Cawthon announced that he had made a three-book deal with Scholastic Corporation and that the first book would be reprinted on paperback in October that year, with the second and third being released in 2017 and 2018.
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. 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, advice for playing the games, and theories sprouted from the franchise.
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.
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 and was slated for release that same day.
On December 26, 2019, the first book in the eleven-book series, Fazbear Frights #1: Into the Pit was released on Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats. The next ten books also had their release dates and titles announced over time.
Film adaptations
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". In July 2015, Gil Kenan signed to direct the adaptation and co-write it with Tyler Burton Smith.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."
In March 2017, Cawthon posted a picture to Twitter of himself at Blumhouse Productions, suggesting the film had a new production company. In May 2017, producer Jason Blum confirmed the news, saying he was excited and working closely with Cawthon on the adaptation. In June 2017, Gil Kenan said he was no longer directing the Five Nights at Freddy's film after Warner Bros. Pictures' turnaround. 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.
In August 2018, Cawthon posted a Steam forum, in which he states that the film will be based on the first game and that if second and third movies are made, they will be based on the second and third game, respectively. Later that same month, Blum tweeted that the film had a planned release window of 2020. In November 2018, Cawthon announced that the film's script had been scrapped and it would be further delayed.
Blum revealed in September 2021 that the film still had script issues and that Columbus was no longer attached to the project as director. In October 2022, Emma Tammi was announced to direct the film in addition to co-writing alongside Cawthon and Seth Cuddeback. The film released on October 27, 2023, to negative reviews from critics, but was a box office success, grossing over $296 million.
In 2024, it was revealed a sequel was in the works. Like the previous film, Cawthon wrote the screenplay. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 was released on December 5, 2025, to negative reviews from critics.
Public image
In November 2019, Cawthon announced that he would be creating a game specifically for a fundraising event for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital hosted by YouTuber MatPat, who would play the game with fellow YouTubers Dawko and Markiplier on a livestream. The game, Freddy in Space 2, was released December 3 on Game Jolt, and included dollar amounts hidden throughout that dictated how much Cawthon would donate following the stream. He boasted that a total of $500,000 was available to find but warned that it was difficult and that he doubted they would be able to find it all, 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 US$100,000 that raised the total donation figure to US$451,200. Cawthon went on to donate the full US$500,000 to St. Jude's.On March 9, 2024, Cawthon appeared in an episode of The Game Theorists entitled, "MatPat’s FINAL Theory!" which was MatPat's final episode appearance as host after he announced his retirement from YouTube on January 9. This was Cawthon's first public video appearance.
Politics
In June 2021, Cawthon became a trending topic on Twitter when his publicly available political donations were shared on the website. Except for one donation to then-Democratic representative Tulsi Gabbard, and another donation to former Indiana House Speaker John R. Gregg, also a Democrat, all of Cawthon's donations were to Republican politicians, including Mitch McConnell and then-former U.S. President Donald Trump. He posted on Reddit to confirm his support for the Republican Party, describing himself as pro-life. He claimed that he had been doxed, and had received threats of violence and home invasion after his donations were publicized. Reactions on social media were mixed, with some people reacting negatively. Days later, Cawthon announced his intention to step away from professional game development and appoint someone else to assume creative control of the franchise.Personal life
Cawthon lives in Salado, Texas, with his wife Miriam Lambert and six children. One of his sons, Braden Cawthon, is an author.Works
Games
| Title | Notes |
| Flanville 3 | Spin-off of the Legacy of Flan series; Third game on the Flanville series |
| Legacy of Flan 5: The Quest for Consumption | Fifth game on the Legacy of Flan series |
| The Desolate Abandon | Third game on The Desolate Hope series |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Programmer | Voice Actor | Role |
| 2014 | Five Nights at Freddy's | Ralph | |||||
| 2014 | Five Nights at Freddy's 2 | Ralph | |||||
| 2015 | Five Nights at Freddy's 3 | Phone Dude & Ralph | |||||
| 2015 | Five Nights at Freddy's 4 | Ralph | |||||
| 2016 | FNaF World | ||||||
| 2016 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location | ||||||
| 2017 | Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator | ||||||
| 2018 | Ultimate Custom Night | Ralph | |||||
| 2019 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted | Ralph & Phone Dude | |||||
| 2019 | Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery | ||||||
| 2019 | Freddy in Space 2 | ||||||
| 2021 | Security Breach: Fury's Rage | Himself | |||||
| 2021 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach | ||||||
| 2022 | Youtooz Presents: Five Nights at Freddy's | ||||||
| 2023 | Freddy in Space 3: Chica in Space | ||||||
| 2023 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2 | ||||||
| 2024 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Into the Pit | ||||||
| 2025 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic | ||||||
| TBA | Five Laps at Freddy's |
Filmography
Films| Year | Title | Creator | Director | Writer | Producer | Animator | Notes |
| 1997 | Three Birds and a Snake | Lost film | |||||
| 1999 | Birdvillage Beak's Vacation | Birdvillage series | |||||
| 1999 | Birdvillage Beak's Adventure | Birdvillage series | |||||
| 1999 | Birdvillage Beak's Snowball Fight | Birdvillage series | |||||
| 2003 | Birdvillage: The Movie | Birdvillage series | |||||
| 2003 | Birdvillage: Second Nest | Birdvillage series | |||||
| 2003 | A Mushsnail Tale | Mushsnail Tale series | |||||
| 2003 | Return to Mushsnail: The Legend of the Snowmill | Mushsnail Tale series | |||||
| 2004 | Noah's Ark: Story of the Biblical Flood | film of Noah's Ark | |||||
| 2004 | The Pilgrim's Progress | Based on novel by John Bunyan | |||||
| 2006 | A Christmas Journey: About the Blessings God Gives | N/A | |||||
| 2006 | Christmas Symbols | Short film included on the DVD of his film A Christmas Journey: About the Blessings God Gives | |||||
| 2010 | Bible Plays: David and Golliath | Bible Plays short film series | |||||
| 2010 | Bible Plays: Noah's Ark | Bible Plays short film series | |||||
| 2023 | Five Nights at Freddy's | Universal Pictures films based on his video-game series Five Nights at Freddy's. | |||||
| 2025 | Five Nights at Freddy's 2 | Universal Pictures films based on his video-game series Five Nights at Freddy's. |
Series
| Year | Title | Creator | Director | Writer | Producer | Animator | Notes |
| 2010 | The Jesus's Kids Club | 6 episodes | |||||
| 2021 | Freddy & Friends: On Tour! | Miniseries based on his video game series "Five Nights at Freddy's" co-directed with Jason Topolski; 4 episodes | |||||
| 2024 | The Game Theorists | Himself; cameo | |||||
| 2025 | MCM Archive | Miniseries based on his video game series "Five Nights at Freddy's" co-directed with Jason Topolski; 4 episodes |
Animator only
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2010 | Earth Science | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Human Body | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Life Science | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Physical Science | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Alphabet Circus | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Money & Making Change | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Division Rap | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Dance with the Animals | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Getting Ready for Kindergarten | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Proofreading Skills | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Writing Skills | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Reading Comprehension | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Math Word Problems | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | What is Multiplication? | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Telling Time | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |
| 2010 | Nursery Rhymes | Educational videos made for the "Rock n' Learn" company |