Scott Cawthon

Scott Cawthon is an American game developer, writer and producer from Houston, Texas, who created Five Nights at Freddy's. He studied computer graphics at the Art Institute of Houston and taught himself game development with Clickteam Fusion, spending years making self-funded Christian adventure games and animations, including The Pilgrim's Progress and The Desolate Hope.

After his family-friendly game Chipper & Sons Lumber Co. was mocked for its unintentionally creepy characters, he leaned into that reaction and made Five Nights at Freddy's, a horror game about surviving nights as a security guard at a pizzeria full of animatronics. Released in August 2014, it went viral on YouTube and spawned a rapid string of sequels, novels and merchandise. Court records later reported by the press showed he earned about $26 million from the series in its first two years.

From 2019 he partnered with Steel Wool Studios on newer FNaF games, and in June 2021 he announced his retirement from public game development to spend time with his family, while keeping creative control of the franchise. He wrote and produced the 2023 Five Nights at Freddy's film, which grossed nearly $300 million worldwide, was sole screenwriter of the 2025 sequel, and lives in Salado, Texas.