Five Nights at Freddy's Creator Made Over $25 Million In Under 2 Years

The Five Nights at Freddy's franchise has become a household name, with a growing roster of mainline games and spinoffs, a record-shattering movie in theaters last October, and another one on the way. Its merch lines the shelves of gaming stores, is available on countless websites, and can even be purchased at your local Walmart. It's clear that the series has been massively successful - but few could anticipate just how successful it was in its first two years alone.

Court records reviewed by Game File revealed that the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise creator made $26 million in the franchise's first two years of existence. The success tapered off a bit four years after the initial influx in interest, but didn't cease; by 2019, the games made a total of $66 million. The series has grown substantially since then, too, with the 2023 film raking in over $130 million worldwide.

According to Game File, who published the figures, the records come from Cawthon's tax returns included in court records. These were "tied to a divorce dispute" involving Cawthon and his ex-wife, which reportedly involved his game development company, ScottGames.

The couple's 2020 divorce resulted in the two splitting their $10 million estate, but Scott's ex-wife, Miriam, re-opened the settlement in 2021, stating that the valuation of ScottGames was not accurate. All of the mainline Five Nights at Freddy's games are published under the ScottGames label. 

It's a bit surprising to hear just how popular Five Nights at Freddy's has managed to become considering its humble beginnings. Cawthon started the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise after making and releasing Christian video games to minimal success. The first FNAF game was released in 2014, and rapidly grew in popularity, amassing a huge fanbase that continues to grow in size. Several spin-offs were released in subsequent years, with a fourth game already out by July 2015.

Back in 2015, Cawthon publicly wrote on the FNAF Steam forums about his humble beginnings and how the series' popularity impacted his life. "Did you know that last year I was working at Dollar General [as a cashier]? I had three bosses who were all still in high school," he wrote. "Before that I worked at Target in the backroom freezer, unloading frozen foods. I haven't had a successful life; and now that God has blessed me with some success, I'm doing my best to be responsible with that success."