The original Five Nights at Freddy’s was designed, developed, and published by Scott Cawthon a mere five years ago. Since then it’s exploded into a full-blown media franchise complete with toys, novels, an upcoming feature film, and even a horror attraction in Las Vegas.
Of course, it’s also spawned a handful of sequels and spin-offs, including a VR game and an augmented-reality game. It even earned a spot in the Guinness Book of Records for most sequels released within a year. Now Freddy Fazbear is extending those animatronic arms just a little bit further and making his way to consoles. The first four games in the main Five Nights franchise are now available on Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Switch.
Better late than never, as they say. It’s weird that it took so long to get to console, and it’s weird that the series made its way to mobile long before then, but it’s here and will hopefully find a whole new audience. There are plenty of horror games on offer for every platform, but Five Nights at Freddy’s certainly serves up a unique experience with a surprisingly deep and unsettling backstory.
There are still a few games in the series not available on console, namely the fifth game in the main series, Sister Location. The first four should keep you busy for a while, though, and at around $8 apiece you can snatch up all four for around half the price of a brand new AAA title.
The critical reception goes up and down as the games go on, with the fourth game being the most poorly received of the bunch. The story takes some wild turns throughout the games, putting you in the role of a security guard at a pizza place before jumping ahead thirty years and throwing you in a horror amusement park inspired by the events of the first games.
The franchise’s narrative is arguably its strongest selling point, so it’s not that surprising that a film adaptation is on the way from horror powerhouse Blumhouse Productions. It’s been delayed again and again, however, so let’s hope it doesn’t end up in production hell like so many long-forgotten adaptations.
Even if the film doesn’t make it to fruition, we’ll still have the novels, guide book, and yes, even a Five Nights at Freddy’s activity book. If that’s not enough, you could always go to Chuck E. Cheese and imagine what the real thing would be like, just make sure you get out before they lock up for the night.
