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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is headed to theaters this year, but already, fans are immersed in Fazbear-style horror from 2025. That's because Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic, has been available to play for just about two weeks as of this writing. Already, the game has received a healthy chunk of positive reactions, leading fans to wonder just how much FNAF creator Scott Cawthon has been involved. We were wondering ourselves, and so we went digging to find the answer.

But first, some context - Secret of the Mimic is the earliest Five Nights at Freddy's game yet, chronologically. The prequel takes place in the '70s and delves into weird, previously unknown corners of the world that Cawthon created all the way back in 2014. Ahead of its release, game developer Evan Lampi spoke to YouTuber Dawko about the creator's involvement in this new corner, and by doing so, painted a picture of how Lampi's company, Steel Wool Studios, collaborates with Cawthon.

"I think the best way to describe it," said Lampi, "Is that we are creative collaborators, but Scott is always the prime mover. He sits at the head of the pyramid. We've worked with him for many years now, so we've built enough trust that he allows us to make a lot of the on-the-ground decisions, as long as we're following his overarching direction."

If you've only been casually following the Five Nights at Freddy's, you may be a little surprised that Cawthon is involved at all, especially in the commanding capacity as described by Lampi. Cawthon announced that he was retiring from making the FNAF games in 2021 after it came to light that he had donated to several prominent Republicans, including current president Donald Trump. However, it appears that, even though he is no longer actually building the games, his vision and consultancy are still sought after as the franchise continues to grow.

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 springs into theaters December 5. 

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." We couldn't agree more, which is why we've cobbled together a couple pieces to send a chill up your spine. Join Popverse as we explore:

• The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
• The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
• All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.