“Five Nights at Freddy’s”, FNAF for short, is a popular internet phenomenon. It started in 2014 when Scott Cawthon released the first part of a whole series of horror games about creepy animatronics. Big shot Youtubers like PewDiePie & Markiplier contributed a lot to the huge success of Five Nights at Freddy’s… But there is a lot more to the hype than just that. Dedication, a unique concept, and a close connection to his community made the FNAF franchise what it is today.
Chipper and Sons Lumber Co. – The Origins of FNAF
What many people don’t know about Scott Cawthon is that ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ wasn’t his first game. In fact, the devoted Christian had created multiple games before he created the popular Freddy Fazbear franchise. His game “Chipper and Sons Lumber Co.” especially had a huge influence on the game developer. It’s a free-to-play mobile game that follows the story of Tyke, the son of Chipper who runs a lumber company. The boy’s goal is to help his father run his business. Tyke does that by collecting wood, building various structures, playing mini-games and talking to various characters.
Many people criticized that the game was bad and even said that the figures looked very creepy. They reminded them of the spooky animatronics from the Chuck-E-Cheese restaurants which definitely didn’t sit right with Scott. But instead of throwing the towel he decided to really lean into the horror idea, and not long after that… Freddy & Co were born.
The Rise of Five Nights at Freddy’s
Over the years the fan base around this game grew more and more to the point where it even got its own movie that made that made so much money that it ranks right after the ‘It’ movies. So how did a small indie horror game like this get so big? There are many reasons why the FNAF franchise blew up as much as it did so let’s take a look through each and every one of them together.
Unique & Outstanding Game Design
Back in 2014, the FNAF gameplay was something nobody had ever seen before. Watching over a bunch of animatronics through a series of cameras sounds boring at first but when you take on your first shift.. you’d be surprised how nerve-racking that experience truly is. Being stuck in a room while you’re unable to move as you wait for the night to go by was an interesting and surprisingly thrilling concept. You had no weapon to defend yourself and there was nowhere to run to… You only had a few buttons that decided if you would live or die that night.
With each passing day, the animatronics got more active and way more aggressive, which kept you on your toes all the time, and with the limited power at hand… it was easy to start panicking. Over time Scott always added some new twists and turns to his game, making each of them unique while still keeping that familiar feeling from its previous parts.
Easy to Learn, Hard to Master
Another huge part of the success of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ is its core gameplay. It’s very simple. If you see Bonnie at the door, press the button to close it and you’re safe. Anyone could play the game. It was perfect for short sessions and easy to access if you wanted to continue playing it, but the longer the nights went on, the more difficult it got to stay alive. You always had to manage your resources properly while also timing your buttons correctly to keep any intruders from stuffing you into a suit. Over the years FNAF even became notorious for its difficult 20/20/20 modes in the custom nights you can unlock after you beat the game. So no matter if you’re a casual horror game player or someone searching for a challenge, ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ definitely serves them both.
Deep Lore & Easter Eggs
At first glance, you might think that the FNAF universe doesn’t have much to it. After all, you’re just a security guard watching out for some robotic bear and his friends… But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Every single game has a bunch of Easter Eggs that slowly unwrap the grand story behind Freddy Fazbear and the other animatronics and let me tell you it’s dark. Very dark. If you are aware of how Springtrap came to life and who the lost children are… you know what I’m talking about. Every time a new part gets released, the whole community gets together to turn every nook and cranny upside down for a new piece of story. Even to this day, there are still many open questions that leave everyone guessing, and there are many many people out there trying to unravel the mysteries surrounding the franchise.
Regular Releases & Connection To The Community
Games often tend to get lost in the void after they had their fair share of hype but Scott really had a good feeling for the flow of his own game. He pumped out one game after another, sometimes even twice a year which greatly pushed the success of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’, keeping the community busy and longing for more. Now some might think that quantity comes at the cost of quality, but not in this case. Every game Scott released was better than its predecessor. Not only did he release the games very regularly, but he also stayed in regular contact with his fans, which helped the community to grow even faster. After all, knowing what your buyers want and interacting with them is one of the biggest marketing boosts for any game out there.
Use Of Multiple Media
Scott Cawthon isn’t only a very talented game developer but also an incredible businessman. There is a common saying when you want to grow your own business and keep it stable which is: “Put your eggs in different baskets.” He not only released multiple games over the years but also expanded the franchise to different media like books and most recently a movie. He also made multiple licensing deals with different companies that sold various kinds of products with the iconic animatronics on them.
Even when the VR hype hit, he wasn’t scared to try something new and release his own virtual reality game that exceeded the expectations of many. While things like this can be very risky, it’s also an amazing way to expand your franchise and gain new followers in the process, if you’re doing it right.
The Power Of Influencers
Back in the day, it was the big era of Let’s Plays on YouTube. It’s not at all surprising that a bunch of YouTubers discovered this gem of a game and pushed it further into the spotlight. Thanks to the game’s many jump scares and randomness, it was always a unique experience for everyone, even if you played through it multiple times. After watching videos of people playing FNAF, a lot of viewers decided to buy the game so they could beat it on their own. Me included. Influencers are always a very powerful tool when it comes to marketing a game. Scott realized this very early in his career and reached out to various Youtubers. He granted them early access to hype up the game’s release even further, which always paid off in its sales.
As you can see, there are a lot of factors that play into the success of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’. Bad tongues claim it was pure luck that Scott’s game was discovered by such big Youtubers early on… But only a good game can create such a loyal and massive community as FNAF did over so many years. Probably no one ever expected that a game about animatronics would become such a huge internet phenomenon that influenced millions of people. The way Scott treated both his game and his community is second to none and it definitely deserves the hype that it has today.
If you want to look at an inadequate example of how to release a video game nowadays, you should take a look at this article here:
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