Five Nights at Freddy's 4 certainly doesn't make things easy for journalists. A little more than a week ago, the official teaser trailer was released by Scott Cawthon. At the same time, Cawthon revealed he'd be pushing up the original October release to August. A few days later, the Steam page popped up, revealing the specs and prominently saying the release was set for August 2015.
Then this morning, YouTubers and streamers began saying they'd received their copies. Dedicated fans stuck their fingers in their ears, desperate to avoid any spoilers. The pattern of previous games was that they were released very shortly after being given to YouTubers, often by only a few hours. In this case, the game was out before more prominent YouTubers even had their videos up.
Surprise! First October was August and now August is July, as Five Nights at Freddy's 4 went on sale today on Steam. Keeping with the tradition of surprise release dates, fans have swarmed the page to get their downloads and play it for themselves. Initial responses have been positive, The good news is, fans get their fix earlier than expected. The bad news is, this is the last chapter, so the release is somewhat bitter sweet.
Players do still have the bonus content to look forward to in October (or tomorrow. It's impossible to tell anymore). And of course, the film which has been releasing details very gradually. It could come out next month! More likely it will come out when it's supposed to because the developer isn't in charge of the release on that one. So fear not, Freddy fans, it isn't all over yet! Everyone else, you only have to hold out for a few more months more likely and then we'll all move on to the next thing.
Quick Take
Personally, I predicted it would come out three hours after the YouTubers got it. Not to brag, but I was spot on, joking or not. Call me crazy but I'm very excited for this last installment. The brief glimpses have indicated that this Five Nights at Freddy's will be very different from the other installments. All new setting, all new mechanics. Are you excited for Five Nights at Freddy's 4 (or maybe just excited that it's over)?
