The age of the Internet has made people's voices and opinions louder than ever before. You can see it every day on social media, on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, with everyone defending their interests and cyber mobs easily started with one single post. It's been this way for a lot of things, especially TV shows, but it's also starting to become the new normal for video games, with franchises such as "Five Nights At Freddy's" amassing a very dedicated fanbase.
But could they become too toxic? In a Steam community post, "Five Nights At Freddy's" creator Scott Cawthon defends the devoted fanbase of his games by saying that these things are normal for every group. Cawthon has a history of banning people from the community when those people start attacking the fanbase and criticizing them for being a little too passionate.
Cawthon acknowledges that the audience is comprised of a lot of different opinions and because of that, people will always be offended one way or another. He just doesn't like it when outsiders come in and generalize the entire community based on the words and/or actions of a few, especially with "Five Nights at Freddy's."
It's a very mature way of looking at people and their opinions. While banning anyone who even has constructive criticism about the fanbase seems unfair, Cawthon's approach is quite level-headed. It's not hard to see why the "Five Nights At Freddy's" series can have a pretty devoted group of fans.
The games are very well-regarded in the horror genre, and the latest game, "Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location," was well-received. Publications such as CG Magazine reviewed the game well, even though they were experiencing fatigue with the "Five Nights At Freddy's" series and its lengthening plot and universe threads as a whole.
