Days after Trump donation controversy, FNAF creator announces retirement Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Days after Trump donation controversy, FNAF creator announces retirement But "is this the end of FNAF? No". News by Tom Phillips Deputy Editor Updated on 17 Jun 2021 95 comments Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon has announced he is retiring, just days after a controversy erupted over his past donations to Republican candidates, including Donald Trump. Cawthon confirmed his decision in a statement shared to ScottGames.com, accompanied by Five Nights at Freddy's artwork drawn by an unnamed eight-year-old fan. There's no mention of the controversy in his statement, save for a reference to him receiving support from the LGBTQ community - a nod to the recent criticism faced by him for supporting Republican candidates with broadly anti-LGBTQ stances. "Here on the seventh anniversary of the first game's trailer," Cawthon wrote, "as I realise that I was in my mid-30s when I created the series and now I'm approaching my mid-40s, I realise that I miss a lot of things that I got to focus on before FNAF became such a success. I miss making games for my kids, 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. I have been shown tremendous love and support over this last week, a lot of which has come from the LGBTQ community. The kindness shown to me has been surreal." As for Five Nights at Freddy's, Cawthon said the series would continue, and he would be working to "eventually" pass over the baton. "Is this the end of FNAF? No." Cawthon continued. "This just means that someone else will eventually be running the show; someone of my choosing, and someone that I trust. We will have to wait and see how it all plays out, but an announcement will be made at some point." Last weekend, Cawthon responded to the controversy at length on reddit to say he would not apologise for funding Republican candidates, but also could not ignore the fan backlash which had arisen from the donations becoming widely known about. "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. "To say that the last few days have been surreal would be an understatement. I've debated greatly how best to address this, including not addressing it at all, but with so many people from the LGBT community in the fanbase that I love, that's not an option. "If I get cancelled, then I get cancelled," Cawthon concluded. "I don't do this for the money anymore; I do it because I enjoy it. If people think I'm doing more harm than good now, then maybe it's better that I get cancelled and retire. I would accept that. I've had a fulfilling career. Besides, most things that people can take from you are things that never had much value to begin with." Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 3 Atari will hold RollerCoaster Tycoon rights for another decade Ups and downs. 7 Lady Dimitrescu will be a tad smaller in Resident Evil Village's Mercenaries DLC Level the playing field. 1 Overwatch 2 suffers another DDoS attack and character roster bugs Mei Mei. 13 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 3 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store