Due to its cryptic storytelling, genuinely creepy atmosphere, and plentiful jump scares, Scott Cawthon has had fans chomping at the bit to get their hands on the next game in his popular horror series, Five Nights at Freddy's 4. Cawthon has cleverly built hype for the game, the fourth game in the series within the past year, beginning with the announcement that it would be the franchise's final chapter.

Originally slated to release on Halloween, Cawthon recently announced a new release date of August 8th (the one year anniversary of the first game's release), with free DLC set to release on Halloween instead. While Cawthon typically releases games in the series earlier than expected, it's still come as a surprise to fans that Cawthon has moved the release date of Five Nights at Freddy's 4 yet again, as the game is available to download right now on Steam for $7.99.

Fans of the horror franchise can jump into the latest creepy Five Nights at Freddy's adventure right now, which, as we learned from the gameplay trailer, takes place in a house instead of a restaurant or theme park like the previous games in the series.

Fans are still busy uncovering the secrets of the latest entry in the series, but questions about the plot, setting, and more should be answered by playing the game. Is Five Nights at Freddy's 4 a prequel as rumored? Is it truly the "final chapter", or will it end on a cliffhanger?

Even if Five Nights at Freddy's 4: The Final Chapter lives up to its namesake, the popularity of the series means that this will certainly not be the last time that fans are able to experience the horrors of its world. The fandom itself will help to keep the spirit of the games alive, if this creepy fan film is any indication, and furthermore, there's even a full-fledged feature length film in the works from Warner Bros. While most video game to film adaptations tend to struggle in the translation from one medium to the other, Five Nights at Freddy's has material that just seems ripe for a big screen horror movie.

Cawthon has a tendency to release games in the series early, but even so, releasing the supposed "final chapter" exactly a year after the release of the original game seemed like the perfect time to drop the game, so its sudden availability on Steam was something no one saw coming. Now fans will have plenty of time over this coming weekend to thoroughly explore and dissect the latest entry in the series, the popularity of which seems to grow every day.

Five Nights at Freddy's 4: The Final Chapter is available right now exclusively on PC, through Steam. However, expect the game to eventually make its way to iOS and Android powered devices at some point in the future.

Source: Kotaku