Five Nights at Freddy’s Creator Scott Cawthon Retires Amid Fan Backlash

Scott Cawthon, creator of the popular Five Nights at Freddy’s series, has announced his resignation following backlash from the LGBT community of his fanbase.

In a post on his website, Cawthon mentioned he wished for a return to simpler times, where he could make games beloved by the LGBT community while still supporting people who actively hated them.

“I miss making games for my kids,” he wrote, “I miss doing it just for fun, and I miss making rpgs even though I stink at it. All of this to say that I am retiring”.

He does say, however, that the IP itself isn’t dead. Much like an animatronic in a fursuit the IP will continue, though Cawthon says someone new will be at the helm of it.

“Someone else will eventually be running the show; someone of my choosing, someone that I trust”, he says.

The Five Nights At Freddy’s Controversy

The statement itself makes no mention of the controversy, but it didn’t need to- Cawthon had previously tried defending himself after reports surfaced that he had been donating money to former U.S president Donald Trump as well as current US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

For context, among other things, Trump actively discriminated against Transgender members of the military and partnered with pro-conversion therapy homophobe Mike Pence, while Mitch McConnell routinely sides with anti-LGBT groups including supporting anti-LGBT judicial candidates.

It’s not just about the LGBT audience either, as the two followed by the other Republican candidates (Kotaku has a comprehensive breakdown) have been reportedly hostile towards all communities that aren’t Straight, White Americans.

In a now-locked Reddit thread, Cawthon says supporting the Republican party doesn’t make him a homophobe, he just doesn’t believe human rights to be as important.

“Even if there were candidates who had better things to say to the LGBT community directly, and bigger promises to make, I believed that their stances on other issues would have ended up doing much greater harm to those communities than good”, he says.

Cancel Culture Gone Mad? Don’t Bet On It (Editorial).

To the average reader, this might seem like another case of angry fans trying to “cancel” successful creators out of spite. Here’s the thing- creators aren’t owed fans.

Fans have a right to drop support for Scott Cawthon, especially considering how much violence anti-LGBT politicians inspire every day. For someone who keeps talking about how many diverse people he’s worked with, you’d think he would have learned that aforementioned diverse people are going through a lot thanks in part to the money he’s given them.

Fans dropping support for Cawthon is simply a repercussion of a bad decision he made, and considering how much marginalized communities loved his games, it’s hard to argue that this is some giant conspiracy.

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