Scott Cawthon appeared in an episode of The Game Theorists entitled, "MatPat’s FINAL Theory!" This episode marked MatPat's final appearance as host after announcing his retirement from YouTube on January 9th and was Cawthon's first ever public video appearance.

Following a controversy surrounding his political donations, Scott Cawthon announced his retirement from public game development. He expressed gratitude for his fans and stated his intention to appoint a successor to continue the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise.