Five Nights At Freddy’s Celebrates 12 Years

This past weekend was the 12th anniversary of the popular video game franchise Five Nights at Freddy’s, and creator Scott Cawthon, his partners Mega Cat Studios and Steel Wool Studios, and more have announced several special surprises for the fans to commemorate the occasion. From games to live-action locations, let’s take a look at just what’s in store for the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s focuses on a Chuck E Cheese-style restaurant called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The restaurant came with a dark history and haunted animatronics. The point-and-click shooter featured not just new, unique game mechanics but also lore that inspired fans to dig deeper and keep guessing. Fans soon discovered that William Afton, the proprietor of Freddy Fazbear’s, has become something of an iconic villain for younger millennials and Gen Z gamers. The lore aspect itself has drawn fans in for 12 years now, with creator Scott Cawthon adding and subtracting from a universe shaped by the darkness of one man and the entertainment company he created. 

SECURITY BREACH 2 BY STEEL WOOL STUDIOS

Series creator Scott Cawthorn supervises (or perhaps hires people to direct) multiple twitter accounts. The twitter account FNAF_ScottGames posted a picture of a pizza that soon revealed a twisted image of “Vanny”, the deuterantagonist of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach

“Vanny”, or “Vanessa,” was a programmer who became possessed by a computer virus called “The Mimic”. The program led people to believe that the “evil” of Fazbear Entertainment was more than just William Afton (or perhaps led by him). The Mimic virus had observed Afton and affected Vanny, making her its “Afton surrogate.” The Mimic’s story was the subject of “Secret of the Mimic,” a Steel Wool Studios production with Scott Cawthon’s blessing.

Security Breach focused on the modern Fazbear Entertainment, a company building a massive Urban Entertainment Complex filled with rides and twisted takes on modern theme park technology. The end of the game saw the Pizzaplex destroyed and abandoned by Fazbear. When we rejoined the series with series protagonist Cassie in Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted, we saw a different version of the series’s iconic Pizzaplex. 

One can hope that Security Breach 2 will focus more on Fazbear Entertainment’s response, perhaps even including a look at Cassie or Vanny taking revenge on Fazbear Entertainment. Help Wanted ended with Cassie possessed (seemingly) by the Mimic herself. The full story is unknown, but it’s an amazing time to speculate!

FNAF WORLD 2 BY MEGA CAT STUDIOS

One of the total surprises was Five Nights at Freddy’s partner Mega Cat Studios being the new creative team behind FNAF WORLD: 2. 

Mega Cat, the studio behind the incredibly popular Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit game, dropped the news in a surprise announcement. FNAF WORLD is a role-playing game with players taking the role of Five Nights at Freddy’s characters. Using a turn-based system, players could coordinate attacks, give each other buffs, and discover new parts of the lore.

The game has something of a reputation among fans. When it was released, it was unfinished and drew criticism from the fan base because of missing features and problems with Game Jolt. FNAF WORLD became something of a meme with the community. Series creator Scott Cawthon agreed, saying that he “got rushed’ during its development, admitting that he got excited about the material they were producing.

Mega Cat’s “Into the Pit” was an iconic addition to the game franchise. Players take control of Oswald, one of the characters in the books, and play a simple game running through the pizzeria from “The Yellow Rabbit”. Fans of the movies might recognize the character’s name as the same moniker for series antagonist William Afton’s serial killer persona.

AN ACTUAL FREDDY FAZBEAR LOCATION AT AMERICAN DREAM MALL

The final piece of news, the most exciting, is the news that as the fandom would say “FNAF is now real.” 

American Dream Mall in New Jersey, a mall famous for its indoor experiences, will be adding a live-action “Freddy’s Pizzeria” restaurant. The mall is an urban entertainment center featuring multiple parks, including the biggest indoor water park in North America, the biggest indoor theme park in the Western Hemisphere, and an indoor sky resort. 

American Dream Mall is, in a delicious twist of irony, almost a parody of a place that exists in the franchise. Later parts of the lore and games talk about “Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex.” The Pizzaplex, a massive mall, becomes the focus of the Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach and Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted games. The Pizzaplex features an indoor theme park, mall, and other amenities. 

According to American Dream Mall, the place will be the world’s “First permanent immersive restaurant experience.”

American Dream Mall released several new images featuring the characters and its opening date of 2027. They offered a link where fans can sign up for notifications about the project on their announcement page.

The enduring nature of the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise has taken over every aspect of modern pop culture. From video games to tie-in novels, toys, movies, and now actual themed locations (along with last year’s Five Nights at Freddy’s-themed haunted houses at Universal Studios. It shows no signs of slowing down, and one can hope that – much like Fazbear Entertainment itself – this is the start of a long-standing tradition of experiences and immersive storytelling that will keep the story going.

How do you feel about the 12th anniversary surprises? What games are you excited for, and are you planning to visit the real Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza? Share it with us in the comments below!