Scott Braden Cawthon (Born June 4, 1978, in Bell County, Texas), also known under the username "Animdude," is an American game developer, author, animator, screenwriter, and film producer who is the creator and original developer of the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, including the Clickteam era of games, spin-offs, and troll games. Cawthon was also part of Hope Animation, which is a "project of Christian animators" aiming to spread the "teachings of Jesus Christ." He is a graduate of the Art Institute of Houston. He had also worked in Dollar General and Target stores as late as 2014. Cawthon has developed up to 80 other indie games prior to the creation of FNaF in August 2014, although most of these can no longer be found on his website. He currently resides in Salado, Texas, with his family.
Scott develops and publishes games under Scottgames, LLC, often stylized as ScottGames or Scott Games. This American video game company was officially founded on June 30, 2015. While Scott has used the name since as early as 2003, it became a formal company in 2015 following the success of Five Nights at Freddy's. Additionally, Scott owns and produces films under Scott Cawthon Productions, LLC, an American film production company founded on March 20, 2017.
Five Nights at Freddy's Five Nights at Freddy's 2 Five Nights at Freddy's 3 Five Nights at Freddy's 4 Ultimate Custom Night Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Carly Anne West; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Elley Cooper; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener, Elley Cooper, and Kelly Parra; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Elley Cooper; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors with Andrea Waggener and Kelly Parra; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Elley Cooper; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Elley Cooper; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener, Elley Cooper, and Kelly Parra; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Kelly Parra; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Carly Anne West, Elley Cooper; Illustrations by Didi Esmeralda, Anthony Morris Jr., and Andi Santagata; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Contributions by Christopher Hastings
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Elley Cooper; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Kelly Parra; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Kelly Parra; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener, Carly Anne West; Illustrations by Didi Esmeralda, Coryn MacPherson, Anthony Morris Jr.; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Contributions by Christopher Hastings
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Kelly Parra; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Kelly Parra; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Kelly Parra; Illustrations by Didi Esmeralda, Coryn MacPherson, Diana Camero; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Contributions by Christopher Hastings
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener and Kelly Parra; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman; Audiobook published by Scholastic Audio
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener, Elley Cooper; Illustrations by Diana Camero, Coryn MacPherson, Benjamin Sawyer; Contributions by Christopher Hastings
Written by Co-authors Andrea Waggener, Elley Cooper; Illustrations by Diana Camero, Coryn MacPherson, Benjamin Sawyer; Published by Scholastic Corp.; Contributions by Christopher Hastings
Co-written by Andrea Waggener and Kelly Parra; Contributions by Christopher Hastings; Illustrations by Anthony Morris, Mike Anderson, and Coryn MacPherson; Published by Scholastic Corp.
When Chipper & Sons Lumber Co. came out, a lot of people complained that the animation and characters in it looked like "animatronic dolls." This sent Scott into a deep depression. Some sources even say that Scott came to the conclusion that God hated him and that he was also considering suicide. However, before he was ready to quit the video game-making business entirely, he realized he could take advantage of this, turning this error into success, and thus Five Nights at Freddy's was born.
Scott has mentioned that Bonnie is the only animatronic who ever gave him nightmares.
Scott's avatar comes from another game he made: There is No Pause Button!
Scott is the father of six children and resides in Texas.
Scott has stated his favorite Bible verse is Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Super Metroid are the games he occasionally plays, as stated in one of his interviews.
Scott voices Ralph and Phone Dude in the first three games of the Five Nights at Freddy's series.
He has also made cameo appearances in FNaF World, Help Wanted, Freddy in Space 2, and Fury's Rage.
The idea of being stuck in one spot and unable to move may have been taken from Sit 'N Survive, one of Scott's other games.
After the release of Five Nights at Freddy's 2, Scott removed all information from his official site and replaced it with an image of the word "offline." Over the next several weeks, his website began to show signs of life.
Most of his information was revealed in a bio on Hope Animation's website.
Scott warning his fans against impersonators.
Scott's website was updated on December 14, 2014, to warn fans about impersonators: "This is a just friendly holiday reminder to not believe everything you hear. I do NOT have a twitter or twitch account. Only believe information from my official email, my official YouTube account, and my official website, Scottgames.com. Thanks and have a Merry Christmas!".
On January 3, the text under the teaser image was updated to inform the community about fan games and that they should be supportive of them: "This is a reminder to not believe everything you hear. Only believe information from Scottgames.com! Please be supportive of others in the community and those making fan-games. It only takes a few kind words to build someone up!"
On January 8, Scott's warning is modified differently as: "This is a reminder to not believe everything you hear; I do NOT have a Twitch or Twitter account. Only believe information from Scottgames.com! Also, please do not call any phone numbers that you believe may be associated with the game. There are NO real phone numbers associated with the game. Please be supportive of others in the community and those making fan-games; it only takes a few kind words to build someone up!"
As of today, the message and the email address are permanently removed.
A picture of Scott appears in the introductory portion of Help Wanted, representing the "rogue indie developer" who supposedly released games that tarnished Fazbear Entertainment, but according to Tape Girl, Fazbear Entertainment had hired the developer all along as part of a coverup.
Scott confirmed on Reddit that while his photo is used for the indie developer, he is not intended to be Scott. He also confirmed in the same post that the child face seen in Ultimate Custom Night, implied to be "The One You Should Not Have Killed," is a modified picture of his youngest son Jason, and that it doesn't mean that Jason is said child.
Due to Scott's cameo in the Intro Sequence of Help Wanted, many believed that he was part of the lore. He eventually explained that he was not a part of the lore.[1]
This had also applied to Markiplier, as he was featured in the trailer for Special Delivery, as many thought that Markiplier was part of the lore.
Unlike every other one of Scott Cawthon's notable social media accounts that are either constantly active, previously active, or contain a single sign of activity, the only accounts of his that do not contain any activity are his Twitch and Tumblr accounts.
On June 12, 2021, his name trended on Twitter when his political donations were identified in public databases and discussed on Twitter. Cawthon subsequently confirmed in a Reddit post that he is a member of the Republican Party, has donated thousands of dollars in support of conservative political candidates (although he also made a one-off donation to then-Democratic representative Tulsi Gabbard's 2020 presidential primary campaign), and is pro-life, sparking both major backlash and messages of support from Five Nights at Freddy's fans. He stated that his personal information and address had been doxxed. He maintains that he loves all of his fans regardless of orientation, religion, gender, or race, and that his donations to any political candidates are not out of prejudice.[2]
In his interview with Dawko, unlike others who he interviewed, Scott referred to Dawko by his real name, Lewis Dawkins.
Scott's high score for Ultimate Custom Night at the time of the interview was still only 6,800.
On June 17, 2021, Scott Cawthon officially announced on his website that he was retiring from making games in the franchise to focus on raising his children. The series' IP will be given to an undisclosed third party. While it's unconfirmed who the IP will be given to, it has been assumed to be Steel Wool Studios by some due to their work on the series.
However, despite retiring, Scott is still working on the franchise, behind the scenes, but not as heavily as he used to.
Despite his notoriety from the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, Scott has maintained a low profile outside of occasional posts on his website and social media. He has seldom given interviews and has almost never publicly appeared on video. In 2024, Cawthon made a cameo at the end of the YouTube video, “MatPat’s Final Theory,” which was the final video hosted by MatPat on the channel Game Theory. Game Theory had become an important figure in the Five Nights at Freddy’s community due to the many videos made by MatPat on the lore of the series.
One of the most popular photos of Scott is of him at Fright Dome in Nevada. The Photo was taken with the YouTuber CoryxKenshin.
Based on an old resume from Scott Cawthon, he had worked on a Disney title between the years 1999 and 2000. It is currently unknown what the title is and what role he had in the making of the title.
According to an interview between FuhNaff and Steel Wool Studios, Scott came up with the names for Curse of Dreadbear, Security Breach, and its DLC, RUIN.[3]
Scott's highlight moment throughout the 10 years of Five Nights at Freddy's was being able to go to the theater and watch the film.[4]
According to Scott, the first and finale time he played Help Wanted was when he started beta-testing the game. Once he loaded into Funtime Auditorium, he immediately took off the VR headset and contacted Steel Wool to get other people to beta-test the game. He added that, because of this, he hasn't and doesn't plan to play Help Wanted 2.[5]
When asked on his thoughts of The Mimic, he said that he really likes the character and thinks that they are a really terrific antagonist.[6]
The Fazbear Frights story Bunny Call is based on a real story of Scott and his family, where they went to a camp and he had signed his two sons for "Panda call," where people dressed as killer clowns scare the family early in the morning. Scott felt so much regret that he started to stress over what he had done, for it to end with the people dressed in the killer clown costumes knocking on the cabin door and Scott simply asking them to not scare them.
Scott revealed that the character The Blackbird is based on a hallucination that had lingered over him during sleep paralysis.
In the Flesh is Scott's least favorite Fazbear Frights story.[7]
Gallery[]
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Games
Doofas, Scott's first video game he made since 1989.
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