The awaited spinoff game to the popular horror series Five Nights at Freddy's was released sometime last week, much to the rejoicing of fans. However, due to mixed, albeit generally positive reviews, Scott Cawthon has decided to pull out the game from Steam in order to polish it up.
On January 21, Five Nights at Freddy's World was released on the Steam website, for $9.99. As soon as the game was released, however, many fans felt dissatisfied at the somewhat choppy and unfinished nature of the game. Several Steam users filled the comments section of the Steam page with negative reviews,but despite this the overall rating of the game seemed positive.
Scott Cawthon released a statement on the FNaF World Steam page to apologize for the state of the game. In his apology, he says that even though he's usually, and jokingly, accused of rushing his games to publish them early, this was first time that he felt that he published a game too early, and admitted "I got too eager to show the things that were finished, that I neglected to pay attention to the things that weren't."
The Steam version of FNaF World was finally taken down on January 25, 2016. Cawthon soon posted an announcement on the Five Nights at Freddy's 4 page, detailing his plans about the game. He confirms that despite the positive reviews, he was not satisfied due to the reviews and ratings the game was getting. He also announced that those who have bought the game will be getting a refund, regardless of how long it has been owned and how many hours have been played.
The announcement confirms that Cawthon will not be abandoning FNaF World, saying that he will be creating a full 3D overworld to replace the 8-bit one of the original release. And as a further apology for his mistake, the game will be released for free on GameJolt when it is finished. He ends the announcement by actively encouraging everyone to refund the game, and an assurance that the full game will be released on GameJolt once it's finished.
Endgadget clarifies on the significance of Cawthon's refund, saying that Steam normally gives refunds as long as you play below 2 hours and submit the request within 2 weeks of purchase. This action alone has caused many gamers to commend Cawthon's actions regarding his game, finding it to be quite admirable for an indie game developer.
FNaF World's Steam page is still active, with the first apology still available to public. The GameJolt page for FNaF World only hosts the demo at this time, but will be replaced with the full game once it's finished.
