Five Nights at Freddy's (FNaF) is a video game series and media franchise created by Scott Cawthon. The first video game of the same name was released on August 8, 2014, and the resultant series has since gained worldwide popularity.
The main series consists of nine video games taking place in locations connected to a fictional family pizza restaurant franchise named "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza", after its mascot, the animatronic bear Freddy Fazbear. In most games, the player assumes the role of a night-time employee, who must utilize tools such as security cameras, lights, doors, and vents to defend themselves against animatronic characters who inhabit the locations and become mobile and hostile at night. The series' lore is gradually revealed through voice recordings, minigames, and Easter eggs featured throughout the games.
The franchise also includes spin-off games and other media, such as a novel trilogy and an anthology series, comprising an all-encompassing fictional universe. The franchise maintains an active fanbase, known for its production of fan art and fangames, and merchandise for the games is available internationally.
History and development
The idea for Five Nights at Freddy's stemmed from negative reaction to Scott Cawthon's previous game, the family-friendly Chipper & Sons Lumber Co. Players said that the main character (a young beaver) looked like "a scary animatronic animal", and reviewer Jim Sterling called the game "unintentionally terrifying".[1][2] Initially discouraged by the criticism, Cawthon (who had previously primarily developed Christian-oriented games) eventually used the feedback to make something intentionally scarier.[1]
Five Nights at Freddy's was released via Desura on August 8, 2014. On August 20, after it was approved by the service's crowdsourcing platform Greenlight, Five Nights at Freddy's was also released on Steam.[3] When the game was picked up by well-known YouTubers it became an internet sensation.[4]: 82
The sequels were released on November 10, 2014, March 2, 2015, July 23, 2015, October 7, 2016, December 4, 2017, June 27, 2018, May 28, 2019, November 25, 2019, and December 16, 2021, respectively. A spin-off from the series, FNaF World, was announced in a Steam post by Cawthon in September 2015,[5] and was released in January 2016. Cawthon releases teasers for his games on his website,[6][7] and trailers on his YouTube channel.
He used Clickteam Fusion 2.5 to create the Five Nights at Freddy's games and