Scott Cawthon

Scott Braden Cawthon (born June 4, 1978) is an American video game developer, writer, and producer best known for creating 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 in 2014 with the game Five Nights at Freddy's, which was a major commercial and critical success, leading to a franchise that gained a large fanbase. Cawthon has led development for eight games in the main series, as well as four spin-offs. Outside of the games, Cawthon wrote several stories, including novels and the screenplay for the Five Nights at Freddy's film (2023) and its sequel Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (2025), both of which he also produced. In 2021, following extensive doxing and harassment incidents due to the publicization of his donations to the Republican Party, Cawthon announced his retirement and has since largely stepped away from game development, although still retaining exclusivity rights and overarching creative control over the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise.