Scott Cawthon

Scott Braden Cawthon (born: ), also known as Animdude, is an American former YouTuber and video game designer who is most known for his development of the game series and franchise Five Nights at Freddy's. 
== History==
===Beginning Career===
Scott Cawthon had developed video games long before Five Nights at Freddy's. On March 19, 2007, he uploaded the first part of an eight-part series, named The Pilgrim's Progress to his YouTube channel, Animdude. The animation is a retelling of John Bunyan's novel of the same name.
After releasing The Pilgrims Progress, Cawthon created several other games including Sit N' Survive, Chipper and Sons Lumber Co., and The Desolate Hope. Some of these were submitted to Steam Greenlight. While The Desolate Hope made it through the process, some games, most notably Chipper and Son Lumber Co., were heavily criticized by prominent reviewers for having characters that moved and interacted with each other like animatronic machines. While initially discouraged, almost to the point of stopping game development completely, Cawthon eventually decided to use the animatronic-like characters to his advantage, sparking the development of Five Nights at Freddy's.
===Five Nights at Freddy's Series===
On July 24, 2014, Cawthon submitted Five Nights at Freddy's to IndieDB, where it gained massive popularity. He then submitted it to Desura on August 13, 2014, and also submitted it to Steam Greenlight on June 13, 2014, where it was accepted August 18, 2014. When submitted to Steam Greenlight, a trailer was shortly released on July 14, 2014, with a demo following on July 24, 2014. On August 8, when the game was accepted, the game was released for $4.99 on Steam, and with an iOS and Android release on July 28, 2015. The game was well received by critics and became the subject of a number of popular Let's Play videos on YouTube. Cawthon then went on to develop multiple follow up games, and the original game, Five Nights at Freddy's, will be getting a movie adaption.
===Controversy and retiring===
On 2021, he retired from making games and has handed out the FNAF franchise to another developer group called Steel Wool Studios. He will continue making games as a hobby and for his children.https://www.polygon.com/22538276/five-nights-at-freddys-creator-retiring-scott-cawthon-fnaf-new-developer A reason of this due to his allegations to politics, barring donations to multiple Republican politicians, including Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump, only donating to one Democrat named Tulsi Gabbard. Some LGBTQ+ and liberal fans in the FNAF community heavily criticized Scott Cawthon. He made a Reddit post that stated
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/fivenightsatfreddys/comments/nybyo1/my_response_and_maybe_last_post/
He was also doxxed, in which he received threats of violence and home invasion. While the reaction to his Reddit post was positive, reaction was mixed on social media sites like Twitter, where some members of the LGBTQ+ community, who make up a significant portion of the fan base of the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, reacted negatively. Supporters of Scott would begin the Twitter trend, #istandbyscott.
==Personal Life ==
Cawthon was born in Houston, Texas. He is the father of 5 children and currently lives in Salado, Texas. He is also credited as part of Hope Animations, a "project of Christian animators aiming to spread the teachings of Jesus Christ." He is a graduate of the Art Institute of Houston, Texas and also has released several independent films, such as Noah's Ark, A Christmas Journey, and Jesus' Kids Club.
==References==
Category:Gaming YouTubers
Category:YouTube Animators
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Male YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2006
Category:One Million Subscribers
Category:Two Million Subscribers