Scott Cawthon, the creator of the hugely popular Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, has announced that the will be retiring from development on the games, following a controversy over various political donations made to right-wing politicians, including Donald Trump.

On his website, Cawthon released a statement that stated "I've had a blessed, fulfilling, and rich career. I've been shown great kindness and I've tried to show great kindness in return. I've tried to make some good games (let the debate ensue), and I've witnessed the creation of possibly the most creative and talented fanbase on the planet." 

The news follows the revelation last month that Cawthon had donated significant amounts of money to conservative action committees and politicians, including Trump. This proved unpopular with the FNAF community, which has a large LGBTQ+ community. Cawthon had stated at the time that his donations were "something that I won't apologize for." 

Cawthon alluded to the reason for his retirement, stating that "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." He also stated that he misses "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." 

This isn't to say that this is the end of Five Nights at Freddy's, as the series will continue in some form, under new leadership. "Is this the end of FNAF? No. 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." 

Both the next game in the series, Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach, and the upcoming movie adaption, are both still in the works too.