Five Nights At Freddy's 6 Was Announced, Then Canceled

Five Night At Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon has provided an update on his next game, revealing that it was to be the sixth entry in the popular point-and-click horror series. However, in a statement posted on Steam, Cawthon also announced that the project has been abandoned amid mounting pressure to top the previous entries and the detrimental impact this was having on other aspects of his life.

"After forcing myself to keep working on it day after day, I realized something--I just don't want to work on this. With each game's release, I think the expectations get higher and higher for the next, and rightfully so. Each game SHOULD be better than the last! But that pressure starts to mount, and I fear that I've been neglecting other things in my life for the sake of trying to keep up with those mounting expectations.

"So, after giving this a lot of thought, I've decided that I'm going to stop working on it. I'm not going to reveal anything else about what the game was, and I've asked other people involved to never divulge anything either. It's just not going to be talked about."

Cawthon went on to clarify that he wasn't leaving game development altogether. Instead he stated he wants to "get back to what made game-making enjoyable in the first place." Additionally, he said this cancelation doesn't mean that he's abandoning Five Nights At Freddy's either.

"In fact, the first game that I'd like to make would be something for you guys," he said. "Remember Foxy Fighters from Update 2? I loved working on that game. It was a lot of fun, and it took a lot of the pressure off me knowing that it was just for the fans of the games. That's the kind of project that I'd like to work on again. Maybe I'll try my hand at a pizzeria tycoon game, who knows. The point is that it would be something for fun, and something for the fans."

For those invested in the Five Nights At Freddy's universe, Cawthon said there are "big things in the works elsewhere."

"The movie is in amazing hands with Blumhouse. I'm also still working to get a VR title out at some point (because that would be awesome). And of course I can't leave everyone hanging with the cliffhanger at the end of the second book."

He finished: "I hope you can respect and understand my decision. I want to spend more time with my family, and get back to what made me enjoy making games in the first place."

The Five Nights at Freddy's series debuted in August 2014 on PC and has since been ported to iOS. In May 2016 Cawthon said he's in discussions with "a few companies" to make console remakes of Five Nights At Freddy's happen.