 I appreciate your guys's patience with me while I try and build up the strength to make this video. Because these last few days have been very tough, not only for me, but I know for so, so many other people, basically everybody in the community. I guess kind of this whole week has been very tough. But basically, if you haven't heard the news somehow already, Scott Cawthon, the creator of FNAF, Five Nights At Freddy's, is officially retiring. Now I have a lot of stuff I want to talk about in this video, but just like the last one, it's not going to be scripted, so hopefully I can get out all my thoughts. Because these last seven years have been the best of my life. I fucking love this franchise, I love the community, I love Scott. Even if you don't like the guy because of the last controversy, because of his, you know, political opinions and where he decided to donate his money, I mean, you just cannot ignore the absolute impact he's had on millions of people's lives, you know, and the whole indie gaming scene. This is actually my first piece of FNAF merchandise I decided to wear for this video. Very faded, as you can see, but I got this back in, I want to say May 2015, but yeah, it's a very sad time right now, a very stressful time, I'd say. It's unfortunate to see so many people be happy about Scott's retirement just because of the controversy. I hate to get into it now because I think this time should more be focused on the good memories with Scott and his creation over the last seven years, but yeah, it's really upsetting to see so many people be happy just because of where he decided to put his money. And I guess quickly I should clarify some things about my last video because I know there was some confusion and honestly I'm shocked that I haven't disabled the comments on that video. I mean I said it in that video, I hate politics, I hate talking about politics, it brings out the worst in people, and let's just say that that comment section is no excuse. But yeah, I have said this so many times and I'll continue to say it, I always, always, always will stand by anybody and everybody in the LGBTQ plus community. And I think when I said it was something along the lines of like, I've lost respect for Scott, that wasn't because of what he believed in, that was more of, again, where that money went towards all those, you know, anti-LGBTQ plus politicians. But again, it's like in his post he said that's not the reason why he donated to those people, he did it for other reasons. But yeah, I don't want to talk about that, I'd rather focus on the good things that Scott has brought to the community and to millions of people because you just cannot ignore the absolute impact that this guy has had on, again, millions of people and kind of the gaming scene in general. And so that's why it's very saddening to hear that after seven years on the seventh anniversary of the first games trailer that he's retiring. I've had so many good memories, I've met so many amazing people, made so many amazing friends, I've been able to interact with people I never thought in my wildest dreams I'd ever be able to interact with and talk to and work with and I never thought that my passion for the games and the franchise would be able to get me where I am today on YouTube with all you guys. I mean, I look around the serum and all I see is good memories. I look back on the seven years and all I can think of is good memories. I hate to ramble on but I can think of every single game and I can pick out like one solid good memory about all of them. And after one, when I first got introduced to the game, the first thing I saw was the show stage and it was actually on this very iPad. You can see just how dusty it is that I played the first game. The second one as well. I remember playing it on this very iPad with my best friend at the time who introduced me to the franchise and someone who I'm still very thankful to be able to still talk to today. We're still very close friends and I even messaged him the other day and I was like, hey man, you know, Scots are tiring. I just want to say how appreciative I am of you and for all of our friendship over the past years. I played FNAF 3 on this thing too. It wasn't until FNAF 4 that I finally played on a PC or what I should say, a very shitty laptop. I remember exactly what I was doing the day FNAF 4 came out. FNAF's sister location, all the build up, the secret teasers, the trailer, which blew everybody away. I completely forgot about FNAF World actually. I guess I just saw a lot of people play it. GT Live, Dantidian back then. And then Pizza Sim is where I started to do YouTube and so I'm happy that I can look back on some of my old videos and see, you know, all the memories. I was chilling on my couch one afternoon, looked at my phone, oh it's a taco notification. He uploaded a YouTube video. Biggest surprise ever, FNAF 6, rushed upstairs, went to record. You know, the build up to UCN, I was in Florida at the time. And then I guess Hope Wanted and Special Delivery and now Security Breach and, you know, Fury's Rage and Freddy in Space 2. It's all documented on the YouTube. I just have so many memories. I know Scott said that FNAF is not going to be over. I will quickly go over his message on scottgames.com in a quick second. But it's been an incredible seven years at Freddy's. It was only supposed to be five nights turned into seven years. And again, I know he said FNAF's not going to be over, but it just won't feel the same with us guys. He is still going to be here, he said. He will be passing off the franchise to someone new. Not entirely sure what that entails if he's just not going to be making any games. If he's, you know, only going to be doing like business stuff, like merchandise. Or if he's just dropping it all together and giving everything to somebody new. We don't know. He said he's going to make an official, you know, post very soon. But it's just, it's really tough right now to kind of, I guess, take it all in. The night of the post, I was so bad. That's got to be one of the worst nights in my life. I mean, I was just, I was bawling my eyes out. This franchise means so much to me and just to get that news that night was crushing. I mean, my fingers were numb. I thought I was going to pass out. I was, I was crying that much. But now it's like, I feel fine, you know, I guess it just hasn't properly set in. I guess I'm just thankful for Scott and for the games and for the community and for everything. Again, this franchise and the memories, it's something I'll never forget. It's just, it's been so amazing. I know it seems like I'm probably about to cry. I probably should be crying right now. It's just, I can't help but smile when I think back at all the memories, you know. But let's read over Scott's post. Something that I don't know about you guys, but it's a post I've read hundreds of times at this point. Before I say anything else, check out this awesome piece of fan art. I don't know about you guys, but I think I've been trying to figure out who this is supposed to be for the past, what, two days at this point. It's Ennard, but it's Mangle. That's insane. Also, it has the Sands Eye. I don't know, but it's awesome. Pretty amazing stuff, right? I have boxes and boxes of artwork like this from fans that I've saved over the years. I've tried to answer as many letters as I could and I apologize to anybody that I missed somehow. Someday when I have a bigger living room, maybe I'll make a giant collage of all of the fan art I've collected. Stuff like this has made it all worthwhile to me over the last seven years. 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 fan base on the planet. But here, on the seventh anniversary of the first game's trailer, as I realized that I was in my mid-thirties when I created the series and now I'm approaching my mid-forties, I realized that I missed a lot of things that I got to focus on before FNAF became such a success. I missed making games for my kids, I missed doing it just for the fun, and I missed making RPGs even though I stink at it. All of this to say that I'm retiring. I've been shown tremendous love and support over the last week, a lot of which has come from the LGBTQ community. The kindness shown to me has been surreal. 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'll have to wait and see how it all plays out, but an announcement will be made at some point. I have six kids now, although one of them is currently the size of a blueberry. I love them dearly. They are my whole world and my whole universe. I want to focus my attention on them, focus on protecting them and spend my time making things for them. I only ask that my fan base respect my decision. I will still be around, just not in the capacity that I used to be, what a blessed career I've had, what wonderful people I've met, and what a tremendous blessing to have been able to know all of you. Thank you so much. See you on the flipside. Damn, that's the first time I've actually read that out loud. Man, that's equally as crushing as it was the other hundred times I've read it. But yeah, that is the latest and what is most possibly the last teaser on scotchemist.com. It's so crushing to say that. A couple things to dissect in the post. I think while this is sad, I am also very happy and very content with this. Again, I wish it could have ended on maybe a better note. I know a lot of people are saying that he's retiring because of the drama and the political controversy and all that. I don't think that's the case. I think this has probably been apparent since UCN. We just didn't want to admit it. Because really, when you think about it, the last proper game we got from scott that wasn't like, you know, a troll game or I guess a game dedicated to an event of something, right? We got furious rage because, you know, security breach had been delayed so many times. Um, then we had the two charity games, ferdy and space two. Um, and also the, well, it's not really a game, but the crowd control UCN. Yeah, it's been about three years, 2018 since we got UCN, which is I guess scott's final game, even though I find it hilarious to think that furious rage was technically his final game. So yeah, I think, I think he even mentioned it back then. He was like, you know, when I retire, I hope I can look back at all the videos and, and, and stuff like that. I, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't remember the exact quote, but yeah, I think this, this drama was kind of the final nail on the coffin, the final nail on the scott coffin. Again, I wish it could have gone out on a, on a better note, but I'm happy that he gets to spend time with his family. I'm content knowing that it's out on his own accord. And I'm happy to know that he'll, he'll still be making games, even if they're not for FNAF, even if they're not for the public, just for his family. I think it's happy to know that he'll still be creating and showing tremendous amount of love towards his six kids. Dude, that's insane. But yeah, I think a lot of people are concerned that this is going to kill FNAF because Scott's leaving. I think this is more so just the end of an era. We don't know who he's going to give it to. A lot of people think it's going to be Steel Wall. I definitely see that as an option. Again, I don't know if he's just leaving, like making games or if he's leaving, you know, the whole business side of things, you know, dealing with merchandise and running the movie. But yeah, looking back, it's just, it's nothing but happy memories. You know, of course, there was drama. There were incidents, misfortunes. I don't know what I'm saying. There were bad times, but looking back, all I can think of and all I want to highlight are all the good times for the past seven years with this community and Scott. And so I think all I have left to say, even though I've said it for the past 22 minutes is thank you, Scott, for everything. Again, Scott has changed the lives of millions. He's created careers. You know, he's helped lives. He's saved lives. And I just thank you for the amazing memories over the past seven years. It's good to know that he's still going to be around, I think. I don't think things will change all that much. Again, it's been a bit since we've had a game by Scott. A little sad to know that we won't have a, like a Fredbear game by him or what, Into Madness, though, I think that got passed on to Stuart Wool. I don't know. Again, it's saddening, but I'm happy to know that he's not completely just outright leaving. So yeah, thank you, Scott, for everything over the past seven years. Thank you so much, guys, for the whole community being here with me and being here with everybody. It's the end of an era, but hopefully the next one is just as impactful. And I guess my outro really hits differently now, but I'll see you on the flip side.