Five Nights at Freddy's

This article is about the video game franchise. For the titular game, see Five Nights at Freddy's (video game).

Five Nights at Freddy's
File:Five Nights at Freddy's logo.png
Genre(s)	Point-and-click Survival horror Role-playing Business simulation
Creator(s)	Scott Cawthon
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows iOS Android PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Xbox One Nintendo Switch
First release	Five Nights at Freddy's August 8, 2014
Latest release	Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach 2021

Five Nights at Freddy's (often abbreviated to FNaF, and also known as Five Nights) is an American indie video game series and media franchise created by Scott Cawthon. The video game series began with the eponymous game developed and published by Cawthon for Microsoft Windows in 2014. The game was followed by a number of sequels, prequels, and spin-offs released for Windows, iOS, and Android, with ports for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. The series is centered on the fictional Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a pastiche of pizza restaurants such as Chuck E. Cheese's and ShowBiz Pizza Place.

In the first three games in the series, the player controls a nighttime security guard, who must utilize security cameras and other tools to survive against animatronic characters which become mobile and homicidal after hours. The fourth game in the series takes place in the house of a child who must defend against nightmarish versions of the animatronics. The fifth game, Sister Location, is set in a maintenance facility owned by a sister company of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, and sees the player character as a technician who must complete different tasks each night. In the sixth game, Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator, the player assumes the role of a new owner of the pizzeria. The seventh game, Help Wanted, features virtual reality gameplay, and focuses on a series of minigames based on previous entries in the franchise. The upcoming eighth game will feature a modernized shopping mall.

The series has been popular since the release of the first game. The success of the video games led to the publication of several books, as well as the production of merchandise. A horror attraction based on the series was featured in the Adventuredome for Halloween 2016, and a film adaptation is planned. The series appeared in the Guinness Book of Records: Gamer's Edition, setting a record for the largest number of sequels released in a year.

History and development

Release timeline

2014	Five Nights at Freddy's
	Five Nights at Freddy's 2
2015	Five Nights at Freddy's 3 (Troll Game)
	Five Nights at Freddy's 3
	Five Nights at Freddy's 4
	FNaF World: Halloween Edition
	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes
2016	FNaF World
	Sister Location: MA
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location
2017	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones
	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Freddy Files
	Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Survival Logbook
2018	Ultimate Custom Night DEMO
	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Fourth Closet
	Ultimate Custom Night
	Art with Edge, Five Nights at Freddy's
2019	Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted
	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Freddy Files: Updated Edition
	Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery
	Freddy in Space 2
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #1: Into the Pit
	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes: The Graphic Novel
2020	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #2: Fetch
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #3: 1:35AM
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #4: Step Closer
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #5: Bunny Call
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #6: Blackbird
2021	The Official Five Nights at Freddy's Coloring Book
	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones: The Graphic Novel
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #7: The Cliffs
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #8: Gumdrop Angel
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #9: The Puppet Carver
	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Freddy Files: Ultimate Edition

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". Initially discouraged by the criticism, Cawthon (who had previously primarily developed Christian-oriented games) eventually used the feedback to make something intentionally scarier.

The first Five Nights at Freddy's game 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. The sequels were released on November 10, 2014, March 2, 2015, July 23, 2015, October 7, 2016, and December 4, 2017, respectively. A spin-off from the series (FNaF World) was announced in a Steam post by Cawthon in September 2015, and was released in January 2016. Cawthon releases most pictorial teasers for his games on his website, Scott Games, and teaser trailers on his YouTube channel.

He used Clickteam Fusion 2.5 to create the Five Nights at Freddy's games and Autodesk 3ds Max to model and render the games' 3D graphics. To enhance FNaF World and Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, Cawthon used professional voice actors. He announced that all titles would be remade by third-party companies for release on consoles.

Cawthon posted on his website in 2015 that he planned to publish his first novel (Five Nights at Freddy's: The Untold Story) in the near future, with its canon separate from that of the games. The novel was later renamed Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes. On June 20, 2016, Scholastic announced that it would collaborate with Cawthon on a multi-book deal. Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes was released on December 17, 2015 on Amazon Kindle; the paperback version was published on September 27, 2016, slightly earlier than its original October publication date. A second novel (Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones) was published on June 27, 2017, followed by Five Nights at Freddy's: The Fourth Closet on June 26, 2018.

Gameplay

The main Five Nights at Freddy's series consists of horror-themed video games in which the player is usually a night-time employee at a location connected with Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a fictional children's restaurant that took inspiration from family pizza chains like Chuck E. Cheese's and ShowBiz Pizza. The restaurant has life-size animatronic characters that perform at children's parties. The animatronics wander the restaurant at night and the guard is instructed to watch over them. To progress through the games, the player must guard themselves from the animatronics with a variety of tools. In the first game, the player can control the two security doors connecting their office to the adjacent hallways as a barrier against animatronics in the vicinity. Each night, the player has a power supply which depletes faster when a tool is used. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 has different tools; the protective doors are absent, and the player must instead use an empty Freddy Fazbear head and flashlight to defend themselves with against the animatronics. The game introduced a music box which must be remotely wound up on a regular basis to prevent an attack by a particular animatronic. 8-bit minigames were introduced, which can be played randomly after death.

Five Nights at Freddy's 3 uses a monitor panel, which contains audio, camera, and ventilation. The player must keep certain systems from malfunctioning. These malfunctions can be triggered randomly or by the hallucinations of past iterations of the animatronics. The ability to seal vents is also added, and must be used to prevent the sole tangible animatronic from entering the office. The player can use an audio-based function on the cameras, which triggers a childlike voice to lure the animatronic away from the office. The 8-bit minigames return and are activated by completing side tasks such as clicking on a poster or inputting a code into a wall. If the player completes the minigames, they unlock a secret ending. In Five Nights at Freddy's 4, the gameplay occurs in a bedroom setting, and instead of being a night guard, the player takes the role of a small child. The player also no longer has access to a camera system. The player has four areas in the bedroom to monitor: two hallway doors on both sides of the room, the closet directly in front of them, and the bed behind them. The player must listen for the animatronics' breathing, which can determine whether they are they near. If the player hears breathing at the side doors, they close the door and wait for the animatronics to walk away. If they close the doors too early, however, the animatronics jump scare the player when the door is opened. Five Nights at Freddy's 4 introduces a new minigame involving a new animatronic, Plushtrap, which offers the player a two hour skip in the next night for completing the minigame.

An elevated control pad is introduced for Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, which can light a room or shock the animatronics. Other mechanics include a second control pad in the breaker room which controls power to the facility and a flash beacon, which allows the player to see in the dark Funtime Auditorium and avoid its animatronic. Sister Location is the only game where the player can move between rooms. Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator has business-style gameplay, and the player must spend in-game money to buy features for the pizzeria. A series of minigames can be played by testing the establishment's attractions. After the player has completed this portion of the game, they complete tasks in a room and fend off hostile, previously-salvaged animatronics. The gameplay of Pizzeria Simulator shares a number of elements with Five Nights at Freddy's 3, including the importance of ventilation and the ability to distract the animatronics with sound. Ultimate Custom Night is a customizable night, in which 50 animatronics are present and have a maximum AI level of 20. The game includes many mechanics from the previous games, such as the heater, fan, music box, and power generator.

The spin-off FNaF World is a role-playing game in which the player battles for experience points, unlocking areas as they progress through the game. Five Nights at Freddy's VR: Help Wanted combines the gameplay of every other games, and turns into a virtual experience for the player. It also introduces several other minigames, in which the gameplay is variant, and also at times has free-roam. Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery's gameplay consists of augmented reality. The player can switch on their camera, and the footage itself will be the game's background. The animatronics will try to attack corresponding to the environment. The animatronics generally have cloaking, which leads them to being invisible.

Common elements

Security cameras

All the main games except the Five Nights at Freddy's 4 and the Pizzeria Simulator have a security-camera system, which observes the animatronic characters. One location can be viewed at a time, and some areas are not visible on the cameras. Most camera feeds are dull, sometimes almost black and white in color, and full of video noise. In the third game, the cameras stop working if their associated system fails. Cameras are used in the fifth game as a mechanic in the fake ending and custom night DLC, but not in the main game.

Lights

Lights (including the flashlight and flash beacon) are found in all but the third main game. Although their use varies by game, lights are generally used to ward off animatronics or warn the player. Lights in the first and second games are activated with buttons on the walls and illuminate the player's blind spots: the doorway or vent exit, respectively. The lights are similar in the fifth game, but are mounted on a control pad and illuminate the animatronics' rooms. The flashlight in the second game has a finite battery life, but is infinite in the fourth game, and must be switched on or off. The flash beacon, introduced in the fifth game, is used to orient the player in the third and fifth nights' pitch-black rooms. The flashlight is also used in the sixth game, but it is automatically turned on when the player looks at the vents, and has unlimited power.

Doors and vents

Doors and vents are a common feature in all of the games. The first and fourth game have doors to be closed when an animatronic is near. Doors are also present in the fake ending and custom night DLC of the fifth game with the same function. Vents are featured in the second, third, and sixth games, as a medium through which animatronics can get to the player. They are also present in fifth game as the primary means of transport for the player.

Jump scares

Jump scares are in all of the series' main games when any animatronic reach (and attack) the player. In most jump scares, an animatronic character suddenly appears in the player's view followed by a loud bellow. Some jump scares, including those by Golden Freddy (in the first game), Nightmare, and Nightmarionne, consist of a single screen with shrill, distorted audio; these jump scares usually crash (or restart) the game. The player can use tools to prevent attacks (and jump scares).

Minigames

File:Happiestdayminigame2023.jpg

"Happiest Day" minigame from Five Nights at Freddy's 3

In all games except the first, the player gains access to a series of (predominantly eight-bit) minigames—randomly after death, or after completing a specific task. The minigames usually relate to a story or event relevant to the game, in a cryptic manner. The minigames in Five Nights at Freddy's 2 reportedly portray previously-mentioned homicides, and the reason of the animatronics gaining life. The minigames in Five Nights at Freddy's 3 show the story behind Springtrap's creation, and the Puppet's succeeded efforts of letting the children pass on to the afterlife. Minigames in Five Nights at Freddy's 4 tell the story of a character (possibly the player) who dies in a tragic accident. There is only one minigame in Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, which depicts the story behind William Afton's daughter. The minigames in Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator depict various events in the franchise, all connected to Afton. Only in the mobile version of the seventh game, the player can access a minigame called "Princess Quest", which depicts the origins of Vanny in Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach.

Phone calls

In all the main games except the fourth, fifth and sixth the player receives a telephone voice message from a previous worker (or owner) of the location. The messages are a tutorial for the player, describing several gameplay mechanics and outlining the location's backstory. In the first and second games, the voice in the messages is the same; in the third game, it has a California accent. Phone calls from the first game can be heard in Five Nights at Freddy's 4 as an Easter egg and ambiance. The fifth and sixth games have AI voices which tutor the player. The sixth game also contains a tape recorder that guides the player through some gameplay mechanics.

Easter eggs

Almost every game in the series contains some Easter eggs and rare screens, some of which point to the lore. They are often presented as hallucinations, with some examples including the "It's Me!" phrase in the first game, Shadow Freddy in the second, rare William Afton's corpse screens in the third, various random items appearing near the bed in the fourth, rare blueprints in the fifth, and rare back alley screens of animatronics in the sixth.

Closings

In the first three main games, the player's location closes shortly after the game ends; in the first game, the location is said to close by the year's end due to a "tragedy that took place there many years ago". The Five Nights at Freddy's 2 location closes due to malfunctioning animatronics, and Five Nights at Freddy's 3's location closes after a fire. Circus Baby's Pizza World is closed before Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location begins, apparently due to a gas leak.

Characters

Overview

Character	Main series								Spin-offs
	Five Nights at Freddy's	2	3	4	Sister Location	Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator	Help Wanted	Security Breach	Ultimate Custom Night	AR: Special Delivery	FNaF World	Freddy in Space 2
	2014		2015		2016	2017	2019	2021	2018	2019	2016	2019
Freddy Fazbear Withered Freddy	Character is Silent						Character is Silent		Character is Silent	Unknown	Character is Silent
Bonnie Withered Bonnie	Character is Silent						Character is Silent		Hans Yunda	Character is Silent
Chica Withered Chica	Character is Silent						Character is Silent		Darbi Worley	Character is Silent
Foxy Withered Foxy	Character is Silent						Christopher McCullough		Christopher McCullough		Jesse Adam Marc Martel	Character is Silent
Nightmarionne				Character is Silent			Character is Silent		Aleks Le
Circus Baby Scrap Baby					Heather Masters				Heather Masters
Ballora					Michella Moss				Michella Moss	Character is Silent
William Afton Springtrap Scraptrap		Character is Silent			PJ Heywood		Character is Silent		PJ Heywood		Character is Silent
Michael Afton Mike Schmidt Fritz Smith	Character is Silent				PJ Heywood	Character is Silent
Elizabeth Afton					Zehra Jane Naqvi
Crying Child				Character is Silent
Henry Emily						Dave Steele
Charlotte Emily		Character is Silent				Character is Silent
Vanny							Jessica Tang
Jeremy Fitzgerald		Character is Silent
Phone Guy	Scott Cawthon						Scott Cawthon		Scott Cawthon
Phone Dude			Scott Cawthon				Scott Cawthon
HandUnit Tutorial Unit					Andy Field					Andy Field
Computer Voice					Julie Shields		Amber Lee Connors
Tape Girl							Briana Kennedy

Humans

The main characters in the game are mostly security guards working at a Freddy Fazbear's Pizza or related location. In Five Nights at Freddy's, the protagonists name is revealed to be Mike Schmidt. For Five Nights at Freddy's 2, the player takes control of Jeremy Fitzgerald for the five nights and the bonus sixth night; he is later replaced on the custom night by Fritz Smith. The name of the security guard at Fazbear's Fright: The Horror Attraction in Five Nights at Freddy's 3 is unknown. The main character of Five Nights at Freddy's 4 is heavily implied to be Michael Afton, the son of William Afton, via the Survival Logbook. The protagonist of Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location is confirmed to be Michael Afton. He is also heavily implied to be the protagonist of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator. In the first three games, a man identified as Phone Guy leaves a recording at the beginning of each night which advises the player about dealing with the animatronics. Phone Guy is present on all five nights of Five Nights at Freddy's 2, four of the main nights in Five Nights at Freddy's, four of the main nights in Five Nights at Freddy's 3, and night six of the second and third games. Although he is not present in the fourth and fifth games, his first-night recording in the original game is sometimes played backwards in Five Nights at Freddy's 4. His call at the start of night four of Five Nights at Freddy's implies that he was killed by the animatronics. In the third game, a man identified as Phone Dude, calls the player on the first two nights to tell him about the exhibit, while Phone Guy is heard in archived recordings discovered by the creators of Fazbear's Fright, on all other nights. Phone Guy is replaced by on screen information in the fourth game. In the fifth and sixth game, humanoid AI's, HandUnit and Tutorial Unit respectively, replace the Phone Guy. In the sixth game, the Cassette Man also tells the player about some mechanics. Cassette Man's real name is revealed to be Henry Emily. Owner of Fredbear's Family Diner and co-inventor of the animatronics, he was an old colleague of William Afton. He designed the labyrinth of vents to trap the final remaining animatronics and destroy them in the sixth part.

The names of many of the children possessing the animatronics are also known. The ones possessing the five standard animatronics are Michael, Fritz, Jeremy, Susie and Cassidy, evident from both the novel series as well as a secret ending in the sixth game. The child possessing the Puppet is named Charlotte "Charlie" Emily, the daughter of Henry Emily. This event is shown in detail in various minigames. William Afton's daughter, Elizabeth Afton, gets near Circus Baby to play with her, unknown of her true motive. This gets her killed and she possesses the same animatronic. The other Funtimes have a high artificial intelligence due to the Remnant in the scooper. In the fourth part's minigames, the player controls a Crying Child, who is tortured by his Elder Brother. At the end, the Elder Brother pranks the Crying Child by putting him in Fredbear's mouth. But the springlock failures cause his head to get crushed and die. The fourth game's protagonist is believed to be one of them, and the character ultimately being Michael Afton.

The series' main antagonist is William Afton, also known as "the Purple Guy", co-founder and owner of Fazbear Entertainment, Circus Baby's World, Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental, CEO of Afton Robotics, and co-inventor of the animatronics, along with Henry Emily. A serial killer, Afton murdered several children by luring them using the Spring Bonnie suit, whose spirits inhabit the animatronics, although the motive of the kills is unknown. Afton later becomes Springtrap (Scraptrap in the sixth game). The minigames show that Afton killed at least 11 children.

Animatronics

The first game has four main animatronics: Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie the Bunny, Chica the Chicken, and Foxy the Pirate Fox. A secret fifth animatronic: Golden Freddy occasionally appears. In the second game, Withered versions of the characters are present, along with their new Toy counterparts. Two new characters are introduced: Balloon Boy and the Puppet. The only true animatronic present in the third game is Springtrap, who is a decayed golden version of Bonnie (known as Spring Bonnie). Some of the animatronics from the previous games return as hallucinatory Phantoms, disturbing the gameplay and letting Springtrap end the night. In the fourth game, nightmare versions of the original four animatronics. A nightmare version of Fredbear (old version of Golden Freddy) replaces the animatronics on the fifth night and is the game's main antagonist. Nightmare, a recoloured version of Nightmare Fredbear replaces him on Nightmare mode. An internight minigame named Fun with Plushtrap consists of a plush Nightmare version of Springtrap. The game's Halloween edition introduces Nightmare Balloon Boy who replaces Plushtrap, Nightmare Mangle who replaces Nightmare Foxy, and Nightmarionne, a nightmare version of the Puppet who replaces Nightmare. Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica receive new skins in the Halloween edition which resemble Jack-o'-lanterns. Although the DLC is non-canon, Nightmare Balloon Boy is deemed canon.

The fifth installments include Funtime versions of the standard animatronics (except Chica and Golden Freddy), as well as some new animatronics: Ballora, Minireenas, Bidybabs and Circus Baby. The non-canon Custom Night also introduces some new characters: Electrobabs, Bonnet, Yenndo and Lolbit. Yenndo and Lolbit are partially canon as they appear as Easter Eggs in the original nights. In the sixth installment, only four animatronics are a threat to the player: Scraptrap, Scrap Baby, Lefty, and Molten Freddy. There are also other characters, but only for decorating. These include Rockstar versions of the original cast, Candy Cadet, Security Puppet, Funtime Chica, El Chip, Egg Baby, Music Man, the Mediocre Melodies: Nedd Bear, Orville Elephant, Happy Frog, Mr. Hippo, and Pig Patch, and Trash and the Gang: Bucket Bob, Mr. Can Do, No. 1 Crate, Mr. Hugs, and Pan Stan, and many other minor characters. In Ultimate Custom Night, many characters from the six installments are present. Old Man Consequences and Dee Dee are characters taken from FNaF World.

Many other characters also appear in the series as rare scenes. Shadow Bonnie and Shadow Freddy rarely appear in the second game. When stared at for too time, they crash the game, like Golden Freddy from the first game. Shadow Freddy also appears in the third game, as an Easter egg and end-of-night minigames, while Shadow Bonnie appears in a secret minigame. Additionally, in the second game, an endoskeleton, known as Endo-2, is spotted rarely. Endo-1 is present in the first game, with no major role. In the second part, a female version of Balloon Boy, JJ, also can be rarely seen under the office table, posing no threat. Fredbear and Spring Bonnie, although not present in any of the nights, are shown through minigames. Fredbear's counterparts, Nightmare Fredbear and Golden Freddy, can be seen in their respective games, while Fredbear himself makes a cameo in his true form in Ultimate Custom Night. Spring Bonnie appears in the games as Springtrap, with William Afton in the suit, which further goes on to become Scraptrap. His Nightmare counterpart, Plushtrap, is also present. In Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted and Special Delivery, many of the characters in the series are present. In Help Wanted, Blacklight versions of the original cast, Mangle, and Springtrap appear in the Blacklight levels. Some new characters appear, including Plushbabies and Plushkins, Grimm Foxy, and Dreadbear debut. The main antagonist, Glitchtrap, is seen as a virtual version of Spring Bonnie and William Afton (Springtrap). He is also hinted at in in-game emails in Five Nights at Freddy's: Special Delivery. In the spin-off role-playing game FNaF World, the player can unlock up to 30 characters—characters from the first four games and characters from Cawthon's other games: Coffee from The Desolate Hope, Chipper from Chipper and Sons Lumber Co, Funtime Foxy (an intact version of Mangle) and Animdude, the character on Cawthon's logo. Lolbit (a character from Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location) debuts as a non-player character. Enemies in FNaF World resemble original characters (Ballboy and Balloon Boy, White Rabbit and Toy Bonnie, Redbear and Shadow Freddy) or are designed (and named) to match their location (Chop 'N Roll in the forest, and Chillax in the snowy fields).

Games

Main series

Release timeline

2014	Five Nights at Freddy's
	Five Nights at Freddy's 2
2015	Five Nights at Freddy's 3 (Troll Game)
	Five Nights at Freddy's 3
	Five Nights at Freddy's 4
	FNaF World: Halloween Edition
2016	FNaF World
	Sister Location: MA
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location
2017	Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator
2018	Ultimate Custom Night DEMO
	Ultimate Custom Night
2019	Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted
	Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery
	Freddy in Space 2
2020
2021	Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach

Five Nights at Freddy's (2014)

Main article: Five Nights at Freddy's (video game)

After Scott Cawthon's previous game Chipper & Sons Lumber Co. was criticized for the unsettling appearance of its characters, Cawthon decided to use the ideas to create an intentionally-scary game: Five Nights at Freddy's. The game involves a character, later revealed as Mike Schmidt, who has begun working as a night security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where the animatronics move at night and kill anyone they see by stuffing them into a spare animatronic suit; this is apparently due to their misinterpretation of any human at night as a metal endoskeleton. Animatronic movement is explained to the player as a purposely-programmed "free-roaming" mode, to prevent animatronic servomotors from locking up. The player must survive from midnight to six AM. They cannot leave the room, and must use a camera system and two doors with lights to defend themselves from the animatronics, with only limited power. The hostility of the animatronics appears to result from the possession by the vengeful souls of children who were killed at the restaurant. The player is guided by an entity known as Phone Guy, who assists them in their defense from the animatronics. Mike is fired from his job after the seventh night for tampering with the animatronics, body odor and general un-professionalism.

Five Nights at Freddy's was released for Microsoft Windows on August 8, 2014, followed by ports for Android and iOS on August 27 and September 11, respectively. A Windows Phone version was also released, but was soon withdrawn due to its downscaled graphics. Ports for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch were released on November 29, 2019, alongside separate releases for FNaF 2, 3 and 4.

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (2014)

Main article: Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Shortly after the release of the first game, Cawthon confirmed rumors about a sequel. He posted a teaser of the sequel on his webpage one month after the original game's release, and continued to post teasers until the sequel's release. A teaser trailer was released on October 21, 2014, introducing new animatronic characters and the absence of doors. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 was released for Microsoft Windows on November 10, 2014, earlier than its planned release of December 25. Ports for Android and iOS were released on November 13 and 20 of that year. A Windows Phone port was also released, but was withdrawn for substandard graphics. PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch console ports were released on November 29, 2019.

Similar to the first game, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is a survival horror video game with point-and-click elements. Players must survive a night shift at the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza restaurant (a pastiche of Chuck E. Cheese's and ShowBiz Pizza Place) from 12 A.M. to 6 A.M. game time (approximately seven minutes and six seconds), without being attacked by any of the animatronic enemy characters that wander from room to room. There are multiple different animatronic characters: withered versions of the original game's antagonists: Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie the Bunny, Chica the Chicken, Foxy the Pirate, and Golden Freddy, as well as toy versions of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy (referred to as "Mangle"), the Marionette (often referred to as "The Puppet"), and a humanoid robot (referred to as “Balloon Boy").

Five Nights at Freddy's 3 (2015)

Main article: Five Nights at Freddy's 3

In January 2015, an image was uploaded to Cawthon's website teasing a third entry in the series. Other images followed before a trailer was released on January 26, 2015. On February 15, Cawthon posted on Steam that Five Nights at Freddy's 3 was cancelled after a hacker allegedly leaked the game. This was later revealed as a hoax; the "leaked" download linked to a humorous clone of Cawthon's previous game, There is No Pause Button! Five Nights at Freddy's 3 was released for Microsoft Windows on March 3, 2015, with Android and iOS ports following on March 7 and 12. PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch console ports were released on November 29, 2019.

Set thirty years after the events of the first game, its main character works at Fazbear's Fright: a horror attraction based on the long-gone Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. The player must defend themselves from the deteriorated animatronic-costume hybrid named Springtrap. Burnt and tattered hallucinations of some the animatronics from the previous two games appear; although they cannot kill the player, they hinder ventilation, sound, and camera systems. Failure to maintain the systems can create many issues for the player, including dysfunctional cameras and the inability to play audio to lure away the animatronic. The player receives guidance from a founder of the horror attraction for the first two nights, and listens to old tape recordings which were found by the attraction's workers. The game has two endings: a "good" ending and a "bad" ending. The bad ending reveals that the souls of the murdered children still haunt the animatronics. The good ending is reached by completing secret minigames in which animatronic characters bring a cake to what seems to be a sorrowful child's soul. After completing the secret minigames, the souls of the children have been freed.

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 (2015)

Main article: Five Nights at Freddy's 4

On April 27, 2015, Cawthon began posting images on his website teasing another game in the series which was originally known as Five Nights at Freddy's: The Final Chapter. A trailer was released on July 13, 2015, hinting that the game was set in the main character's house. Five Nights at Freddy's 4 was announced with a release date of October 31, 2015. It was pushed forward to August 8 and again to July 23, when the game was unexpectedly released on Microsoft Windows through Steam. Android and iOS ports were released on July 25 and August 3, 2015. PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch console ports were released on November 29, 2019.

The player character is a young boy, with delusions of being attacked by nightmarish versions of the original animatronic characters. The player must defend themselves with a flashlight, doors, and hearing to locate the animatronics. The story of (possibly) the same young boy is told in minigames, in which he is bullied because of his irrational fear of a restaurant with a yellow animatronic bear and rabbit. He is guided by an animatronic plush toy, who speaks to the character when he is alone. The child is eventually killed by Fredbear, the bear animatronic, in a freak accident. The game had Halloween-style DLC with "nightmare" versions of animatronics from Five Nights at Freddy's 2 and Halloween-themed reskins for Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location (2016)

Main article: Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location

Cawthon posted a teaser image on his website in April 2016 of a clown-like animatronic named Circus Baby from an upcoming game, Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location. Several teaser images of different characters and hints at their origins followed. The trailer for the game was released on Cawthon's YouTube channel, with new animatronics and a new location. The release date was announced as October 7, 2016. Cawthon made a prank release of the game on October 5, apparently releasing a "mature" edition after a decision to delay the game to make it more kid-friendly. The download link led to a clone of Cawthon's previous game, Sit 'N Survive. Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location was released for Microsoft Windows on October 7, 2016, followed by ports for Android on December 22, 2016 and iOS on January 3, 2017. It was also released on Nintendo Switch in North America on June 18, 2020, and on Xbox One on July 10, 2020. The PlayStation 4 port was released in Europe and North America on July 21 and July 22, 2020, respectively.

The player character, apparently named Mike and jokingly called Eggs Benedict, is a new employee of Circus Baby's Rentals and Entertainment (a sister company of Fazbear Entertainment which rents animatronics for children's parties). The animatronics were originally intended for Circus Baby's Pizza World, which never opened due to a gas leak. Mike is guided by HandUnit, an AI character similar to the Phone Guy of previous games. HandUnit instructs him about his job, often telling him to disregard safety; the animatronic Circus Baby often gives instructions which contradict HandUnit's, and are vital to survival.

The game has "custom night" DLC, in which the player can use mechanics reminiscent of the first game (such as interactive doors and a camera system) which were absent from the main game. New minigames are also available in the DLC, describing the fate of "Mike" after the events of Sister Location. A cutscene is shown after the "Golden Freddy" custom-night preset, in which a character named "Michael" speaks to his father in a foreboding way.

Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator (2017)

Main article: Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator

In June 2017, Cawthon hinted at the development of a sixth main game in the series. On July 2, 2017, he announced his decision to cancel the game and said that he had been "neglecting other things in [his] life for the sake of trying to keep up with mounting expectations". Cawthon said that he was not planning to abandon the series, and might return with a game in a style similar to FNaF World.

On December 4, 2017, after teasing the game several days earlier, Cawthon released Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator on Steam. The game appears to be a business-simulation game in which the player plans (and runs) a pizzeria, but frequently shifts into the survival-horror vein of the series' other main games. The player may accept a corporate sponsor for the restaurant, but doing so causes loud video ads from the sponsor to play during the game's night shifts (making it difficult to hear approaching animatronics). The player has the option of salvaging damaged animatronics from the previous games, increasing revenue and the possibility of being attacked during the night shifts.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted (2019)

Main article: Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted

On August 18, 2018, Cawthon confirmed on his Steam thread that the next main installment in the Five Nights at Freddy's series would be available as a virtual reality game. On March 25, 2019, during Sony Interactive Entertainment's State of Play live stream announcing several new games for the PlayStation 4, a trailer announcing the game was shown. In the game, the player is a technician repairing a pizzeria's animatronics. From a first-person perspective, they fix the animatronics, solve puzzles and navigate dark hallways while avoiding malfunctioning (and hostile) animatronics. The game was released on May 28, 2019. A non-VR version of the game was released on December 17, 2019 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4.

Future

Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach (2021)

On August 8, 2019, during the first game's fifth anniversary, Cawthon posted a new image on his website, teasing an eighth installment for 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 completely new animatronics can be seen playing for an excited crowd. On September 29, 2019, Cawthon's website was updated with a new teaser featuring "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 June 12, 2020, another teaser was released, featuring the game's protagonist, an unnamed female security guard. On August 7, 2020, a teaser of Vanny was released. One day later, Scott revealed the characters Glamrock Chica and Roxanne Wolf via Reddit.

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 is not official and that the title is only for Funko. It is scheduled for a early 2021 release.

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. Its initial release will be on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC and will come to other platforms three months later.

Spin-offs

FNaF World (2016)

Main article: FNaF World

Cawthon announced a spin-off from his series, FNaF World, on September 15, 2015. Unlike the main series, the game is an RPG-based video game using the first four games' animatronic characters. The game is set in a fanciful world where the characters must fight enemies and progress by unlocking perks and items. Originally planned for release on February 2, 2016, Cawthon rescheduled the release for January 22 and released it a day earlier.

Players and critics criticized the game for missing key features and being unstable and unfinished, for which Cawthon apologized: "I got too eager to show the things that were finished, that I neglected to pay attention to the things that weren't." He decided to remove it from Steam, saying that the game would be improved and later re-released free of charge. Cawthon announced that he asked Valve to refund all purchasers the price of the game.

He released a free version of the game, featuring a 3D overworld and an updated character-selection screen, in February 2016. Cawthon posted a new teaser the following month, with characters such as the main series' Purple Guy and most of the characters from the Halloween update of Five Nights at Freddy's 4. He created minigames for the game's second update, including Foxy Fighters, FOXY.exe, Chica's Magic Rainbow and FNaF 57: Freddy In Space.

Freddy in Space 2 (2019)

Freddy in Space 2 is a side-scrolling platform game and a sequel to the FNaF 57: Freddy in Space minigame from FNaF world. It was released for free on December 3, 2019 on Game Jolt. The game was made to promote a #CancelCancer charity livestream on YouTube, which was hosted by Matthew Patrick of Game Theory for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

Ultimate Custom Night (2018)

Main article: Ultimate Custom Night

Ultimate Custom Night is the series' second spin-off. Its gameplay differs from previous games in consisting of one night: a "custom night" where the player can alter the difficulty settings of fifty antagonists from the previous main and spin-off games. Ultimate Custom Night was released on June 27, 2018. The customizable night contains a total of over fifty animatronics from the six main Five Nights at Freddy's games and the spin-off FNaF World, most of which allow the player to determine how aggressive they are during the night (similar to the "custom nights" in earlier games). The player can select the office to play in, and has 16 themed game modes available.

Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery (2019)

Main article: Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery

An augmented reality game, Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery, was announced on September 13, 2019. The game was released for free on iOS and Android on November 25, 2019. However, compared to other spin-offs, this game seems to be canon to the mainline games.

The Fazbear Fanverse Initiative (2020–present)

Cawthon announced in August 2020 his plan to help fund and publish Five Nights at Freddy's games developed by fans as a bundle. He will not be involved in any of the creative elements, but will help with marketing and publishing support as well as appropriate licensing. The games included will be the entirety of the Five Nights at Candy's and One Night at Flumpty's series' (including the upcoming Five Nights at Candy's 4 and One Night at Flumpty's 3), The Joy of Creation: Ignited Collection (consisting of the original The Joy of Creation, The Joy of Creation: Reborn and The Joy of Creation: Story Mode), Popgoes Evergreen (including the prologue game Popgoes Arcade 2020 Edition), and Five Nights at Freddy's Plus, a remake/re-imagining of the original game. Cawthon also stated that these games will also 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.

Music

Ambient music for the first four Five Nights at Freddy's games is primarily stock music adapted by Cawthon. Music includes the "Toreador Song" when the player runs out of power in the first game and "My Grandfather's Clock", played by the Puppet's music box as it winds down in Five Nights at Freddy's 2. FNaF World, Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, Five Nights at Freddy's 3 and Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator have soundtracks composed by Leon Riskin.

Other media

Books

Release timeline

2015	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes
2016
2017	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones
	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Freddy Files
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Survival Logbook
2018	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Fourth Closet
	Art with Edge, Five Nights at Freddy's
2019	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Freddy Files: Updated Edition
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #1: Into the Pit
	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes: The Graphic Novel
2020	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #2: Fetch
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #3: 1:35AM
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #4: Step Closer
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #5: Bunny Call
2021	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #6: Blackbird
	The Official Five Nights at Freddy's Coloring Book
	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones: The Graphic Novel
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #7: The Cliffs
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #8: Gumdrop Angel
	Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #9: The Puppet Carver
	Five Nights at Freddy's: The Freddy Files: Ultimate Edition

Novels

Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes (2015)

Main article: Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes

Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes is the first novel by Scott Cawthon and Kira Breed-Wrisley. It was published ahead of schedule on December 17, 2015 for the Amazon Kindle, after a paperback edition was published on September 27 of that year. The novel follows a group of childhood friends who meet in their hometown and discover unnerving secrets about the once-beloved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. According to Cawthon, the novel "expands the mythos and reveals a human element never before seen in the games". Although the novel inhabits the Five Nights at Freddy's universe, however, the book and the games are not "intended to fit together like two puzzle pieces".

Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones (2017)

Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones, the second novel by Cawthon and Breed-Wrisley, is a sequel to Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes which was found on Amazon under Cawthon's name on January 8, 2017. Although the discovery sparked controversy about the book's legitimacy, Cawthon soon confirmed that it was an official publication. The novel (published on June 27, 2017) involves Charlie, the main character from The Silver Eyes, who is "drawn back into the world of her father's frightening creations" while trying to move on.

Five Nights at Freddy's: The Fourth Closet (2018)

Five Nights at Freddy's: The Fourth Closet, the third novel by Cawthon and Breed-Wrisley, was published on June 26, 2018. The novel focuses on Charlie's friends, who are searching for the truth behind what happened to Charlie in The Twisted Ones while mysterious events unfold after a new restaurant opens.

Fazbear Frights

Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #1: Into The Pit (2019)

Fazbear Frights #1: Into The Pit is the first book in the Fazbear Frights series. It was released on December 26, 2019 and contains three short stories: "Into the Pit", "To Be Beautiful", and "Count the Ways". "Into the Pit" is about a child named Oswald. He has no friend and finds himself being bored during the summer. He soon discovers something at a nearby pizzeria. "To Be Beautiful" is about a kid named Sarah, who wishes to be beautiful and finds an animatronic who can help her with that. "Count the Ways" is about a teenager named Millie, who accidentally gets trapped inside Funtime Freddy's body, and wishes to disappear off the earth.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #2: Fetch (2020)

Fazbear Frights #2: Fetch is the second book in the Fazbear Frights series. It was released on March 3, 2020 and contains three short stories: "Fetch", "Lonely Freddy", and "Out of Stock". "Fetch" tells about a high schooler named Greg, who finds a strange animatronic, Fetch, in an abandoned Freddy's, and decides to test some controversial science he's been studying. "Lonely Freddy" shows a teenager named Alec trying to expose his sister to show her as a brat, while celebrating her birthday at Freddy's. "Out of Stock" is about a high schooler named Oscar, who gets a Plushtrap toy, but later understands its true colors.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #3: 1:35AM (2020)

Fazbear Frights #3: 1:35AM is the third book in the Fazbear Frights series. It was released on May 5, 2020 and contains three short stories: "1:35AM", "Room for One More", and "The New Kid". "1:35AM" shows a recently divorced woman Delilah buying an Ella doll and using her as an alarm, but later throws her out, but is still tormented by the alarm. "Room for One More" is about a young man Stanley, working at the Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rentals. "The New Kid" is about Devon and his friend Mick, trying to teach the new kid a lesson as he tries to take his popularity.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #4: Step Closer (2020)

Fazbear Frights #4: Step Closer is the fourth book in the Fazbear Frights series. It was released on July 7, 2020 and contains three short stories: "Step Closer", "Dance with Me", and "Coming Home". "Step Closer" follows Pete, trying to scare his younger brother with Foxy. "Dance with Me" shows Kasey, a thief, who, after stealing a pair of cardboard goggles, starts seeing Ballora. "Coming Home" is about Samantha, trying to help her dead sister, Susie.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #5: Bunny Call (2020)

Fazbear Frights #5: Bunny Call is the fifth volume of the Fazbear Frights series. It was released on September 1, 2020 and contains three short stories: "Bunny Call", "In the Flesh", and "The Man in Room 1280". "Bunny Call" includes a man named Bob, who orders for a Bunny Call to prank his family. "In the Flesh" follows a game developer named Matt, whose character he programmed starts to act strangely. "The Man in Room 1280" is about a priest named Arthur who visits a man in a hospital who is supposed to be dead, but still lives.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #6: Blackbird (2020)

Fazbear Frights #6: Blackbird is the sixth volume of the Fazbear Frights series. It was released on December 29, 2020, and contains three short stories: "Blackbird", "The Real Jake", and "Hide and Seek". "Blackbird" features a man named Nole, who is tormented for his actions in the past. "The Real Jake" centres around the titular Jake, a dying child who finds solace in an animatronic made by his parents. "Hide and Seek" follows Toby, who accidentally unleashes a malevolent entity from an arcade game.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #7: The Cliffs (2021)

Fazbear Frights #7: The Cliffs is the upcoming seventh volume of the Fazbear Frights series. It will be released on March 2, 2021.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #8: Gumdrop Angel (2021)

Fazbear Frights #8: Gumdrop Angel is the upcoming eighth volume of the Fazbear Frights series. It will be released on May 4, 2021.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights #9: The Puppet Carver (2021)

Fazbear Frights #9: The Puppet Carver is the upcoming ninth volume of the Fazbear Frights series. It will be released on July 6, 2021.

Other

Guide

Five Nights at Freddy's: The Freddy Files is a guide book with character profiles and in-game mechanics which expands fan theories based on the games. First published on August 29, 2017, an updated edition was published on June 25, 2019. An "ultimate" edition is set to release sometime in 2021.

Activity book

Five Nights at Freddy's: Survival Logbook is an activity book which first appeared on Amazon in mid-2017 and was published on December 26 of that year. Unlike the previous books, Survival Logbook has no e-book edition.

Film adaptation

Warner Bros. Pictures announced in April 2015 that it had acquired the series' film rights, with Roy Lee, David Katzenberg, and Seth Grahame-Smith scheduled to produce. Grahame-Smith said 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 said that due to "problems within the movie industry as a whole", the film "was met with several delays and roadblocks" and was "back at square one". 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." Cawthon tweeted a picture of Blumhouse Productions in March of that year, implying that the film had a new production company. Producer Jason Blum confirmed the news two months later, saying that he was excited about working closely with Cawthon on the adaptation. In June 2017, Kenan said that he was no longer directing the film after Warner Bros. Pictures' turnaround. It was announced in February 2018 that Chris Columbus would direct and write the film, also producing it with Blum and Cawthon. In August 2018, Cawthon announced that the script's first draft (involving the events of the first game) was completed and a second and third film were possible. Later that month, Blum tweeted that the film was planned for a 2020 release. However, a few months later, in November 2018, Cawthon announced that the film's script had been scrapped and it would be further delayed. After almost two years without any subseqeunt announcements, Blum confirmed in June 2020 that the movie was still in active development, which he reiterated in November 2020.

On November 20, 2020, Cawthon announced in a Reddit post discussing the many scrapped screenplays for the film that filming for the Five Nights at Freddy's film, referring to its script as The "Mike" screenplay, would begin in spring 2021.

Reception

Aggregate review scores

Game	Metacritic
Five Nights at Freddy's	(PC) 78/100
Five Nights at Freddy's 2	(PC) 62/100
Five Nights at Freddy's 3	(PC) 68/100
Five Nights at Freddy's 4	(PC) 51/100
Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location	(PC) 62/100
Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator	(PC) TBA
Ultimate Custom Night	(PC) TBA
Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted	(PC) 81/100
FNaF World	(PC) TBA

The first game was praised by critics. Joel Couture of Indie Game Magazine commended its artistic design, writing that "it's an incredibly terrifying experience to try to save yourself from the single jump scare that ends the game" and calling the game a "fantastic example of how cleverness in design and subtlety can be used to make an experience terrifying". PC Gamer's Omri Petitte noted that players would probably be familiar with its setting, similar to restaurants such as Chuck E. Cheese's. Although "the AI isn't some masterwork of procedural unpredictability, it would [still] head straight to you and eat your face off, or it'll play around like an innocent child before closing in for the kill. Your mind will fill in the rest."

The second game received mixed to positive reviews. Petitte of PC Gamer wrote that what he had hoped for in the sequel "was more mind games and more uncertainty. I wanted the plodding animatronic suits to find me and rip my face off in new and interesting ways. I wanted working legs ... what I got was a horror game dipping heavily into deception and subtlety ... enjoying the good parts, though, comes with a cost of a frustratingly steep difficulty". Nic Rowen of Destructoid gave the game a generally positive review, saying: "It's absolutely terrifying to know that you could be attacked at any moment from multiple avenues" and praising the new animatronics and mechanics, but criticizing its jump scares and calling the game "too hard for its own good".

The third game received mostly mixed to positive reviews as well. A PC Gamer review said that although they enjoyed the reworked camera system, the animatronics' jump scares "felt a little stale by the third night" and became annoying. A Destructoid review said that although Five Nights at Freddy's 3 was "by far the most technically proficient and mechanically satisfying installment yet", Fazbear's Fright and Springtrap "[lacked the] charm of the original cast and locations".

The fourth game received more mixed reviews overall, with Destructoid criticizing the fourth game's excessively-loud jump scares and calling its breathing mechanic too difficult and confusing for players. A GameZebo reviewer, however, praised the game's intense environment, creepy sounds and graphics, and jump scares. A PC Gamer reviewer called it "another rivet in the series' steel-clad design which immortalized its Let's Play legacy in a few short months" and "certainly the scariest of the four [games]", criticizing its gameplay ("the humdrum repetition of the same sequence over and over ... is too much of a chore to fully pull me in") and the lack of the series' signature camera system.

The fifth game, Sister Location, received more positive reviews than it's predecessor, with mostly mixed to positive reviews. Destructoid called the fifth game "slightly above average" and noted that "fans of the genre should enjoy this game, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled." A GameCrate review said that "Sister Location is a fantastic horror game, even if it doesn't particularly feel like the rest of the FNaF series."

The sixth game, Pizzeria Simulator, received mostly positive reviews, with GameCrate calling it a "must-play game for Five Nights at Freddy's fans" and the "best value in gaming right now". Rock, Paper, Shotgun also gave the game a positive review, calling it "spooky as hell".

Ultimate Custom Night received positive reviews. Dominic Tarason of Rock, Paper, Shotgun called the game "an intriguing mess", and Shaun Prescott of PC Gamer described it "a neat, customisable take on the classic survival horror formula".

Cultural impact

In 2016, a horror attraction based on the series was featured at Adventuredome during the Halloween season.

Fandom

A person in a fox ostume from the series, with a mouthful of teeth

A Foxy cosplayer

Since the release of the first game, the series has become increasingly popular and is discussed by fans on platforms such as Reddit. The games have become common on Let's Play videos. Popular video streamers, such as Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and PewDiePie, helped the games receive additional attention with their playthroughs. However, PewDiePie stopped making videos about the series after his first video on the fourth game, stating "If you've played the first three games, you're practically immune to the jumpscares by now." This isn't the first time PewDiePie expressed skepticism around Five Nights at Freddy’s. While he makes it clear that he is a fan of earlier games, that has not stopped him from making fun of the hype surrounding the series. In May 2015, YouTube reported that playthroughs of the Five Nights at Freddy's series were the platform's eighth-most-watched playthroughs. Although channels such as Game Theory occasionally feature Five Nights at Freddy's-related videos, they seldom provide gameplay footage and emphasize game discussion.

A number of fangames have been inspired by the main-game mechanics of Five Nights at Freddy's. Although the Five Nights at Freddy's fandom has been criticized for immaturity, Cawthon defended them on Steam and criticized the broader community for what he called an unfair generalization.

Phone calls

In April 2015, fans mistook random numbers placed by Cawthon in the source code of the game's website for the coordinates of a location significant to the games; they entered the numbers into Google Maps and discovered a pizzeria in Virginia. Many phone calls were made to the pizzeria by fans who were attempting to learn if the company was connected to the upcoming Five Nights at Freddy's 4. Cawthon later confirmed that the pizzeria had no connection with the series.

Fans discovered Freddie's, a pizzeria and restaurant in Long Branch, New Jersey, in June 2016 and again called en masse to determine its affiliation (if any) with Five Nights at Freddy's. Hundreds of phone calls from fans daily created a difficulty for customers to place orders by phone. Freddie's Pizza and Pasta, in Roseville, California, had a similar experience. Cawthon added a footer to his webpage asking fans not to call numbers they believe are associated with the series.

Merchandise

Five Nights at Freddy's merchandise is primarily produced by two companies: Sanshee and Funko. Products include stuffed toys, action figures, posters, clothing, keychains, and stationery. McFarlane Toys also has a line of Five Nights at Freddy's merchandise, consisting mainly of construction sets; Todd McFarlane called the line "the single largest selling product, bar none, by a lot that [he's] done in 20-plus years." The merchandise, available internationally, has been a factor in the franchise's success.

External links

• Official website