Five Nights at Freddy's has been a phenomenon in the game development world. Creator Scott Cawthon has pumped out five main titles in the span of three years, along with a few spin-offs. He had previously announced development on a sixth entry in his wildly successful series, but has since announced that the project has been halted.
In a statement posted on Steam, Cawthon described the pressure of his work.
"After forcing myself to keep working on it day after day, I realized something–I just don't want to work on this. With each game's release, I think the expectations get higher and higher for the next, and rightfully so. Each game SHOULD be better than the last! But that pressure starts to mount, and I fear that I've been neglecting other things in my life for the sake of trying to keep up with those mounting expectations.
So, after giving this a lot of thought, I've decided that I'm going to stop working on it. I'm not going to reveal anything else about what the game was, and I've asked other people involved to never divulge anything either. It's just not going to be talked about."
Five Nights at Freddy's was an overnight success, exploding on Steam and Let's Play channels on YouTube. Cawthon, then just an average, aspiring game developer, has had his life launched forward like a catapult.
It's no surprise he wants to take a breather. He did, however, clarify that he wasn't leaving game development as a whole. Instead, he plans to "get back to what made game-making enjoyable in the first place." He also ensured that the cancellation of this project doesn't spell out the end of Five Nights at Freddy's.
"In fact, the first game that I'd like to make would be something for you guys. Remember Foxy Fighters from Update 2? I loved working on that game. It was a lot of fun, and it took a lot of the pressure off me knowing that it was just for the fans of the games. That's the kind of project that I'd like to work on again. Maybe I'll try my hand at a pizzeria tycoon game, who knows. The point is that it would be something for fun, and something for the fans."
For the skeptics that are still not convinced that Freddy will remain alive and well, remember that there is a movie still in the works.
Cawthon's closing statement reminds us all that he's a single developer with a dream that happened to be launched into success. "I hope you can respect and understand my decision. I want to spend more time with my family, and get back to what made me enjoy making games in the first place."
Take a rest, Scott. Just make sure, if you get pizza, have it delivered. We don't want to see you end up in your own horror game.
