Five Nights at Freddy's creator re-releases the controversial spin-off role-playing game Five Nights at Freddy's World on Steam for free, with additional content.

Franchise creator Scott Cawthon knew that he let down Five Nights at Freddy's fans with the initial release of Five Nights at Freddy's World, an RPG spin-off of the main series. Cawthon responded by pulling the game from sale to fix some of its issues, and has now re-released it for free with some added content.

This updated version of Five Nights at Freddy's World reportedly boasts a remodeled overworld. Cawthon claims that there are many other new features in this re-release as well, but stopped short of actually describing the new features in question. Fans can check out the new features by downloading Five Nights at Freddy's World for free from Game Jolt, but so far, there is no sight of the Steam version.

It's good to see a developer own up to a mistake, and attempt to make it up to their community. Cawthon could have just kept selling the unfinished game, and probably would have raked in a decent amount of cash based on the powerful brand name of Five Nights at Freddy's alone. However, he took the classy route by removing the game from sale, and issuing an official apology to his fans.

By re-releasing the game for free with additional content, and future updates planned to add even more to the game, Cawthon will likely find himself back in the good graces of the Five Nights at Freddy's fans. These fans helped Five Nights at Freddy's become popular enough that a Five Nights at Freddy's feature film is in development, and they also helped really launch Cawthon's career.

So it seems like Cawthon feels as though he owes a debt of gratitude to the Five Nights at Freddy's fans, and is looking to right the wrongs of Five Nights at Freddy's World by re-releasing the game for free. Whether or not it's actually a good game or not now is something that the players will have to decide, but regardless, it's an appreciated gesture and paints Cawthon in a very fan-friendly light.

Perhaps this move will make people less weary about picking up whatever Cawthon develops next. Smart money says that it will likely be another Five Nights at Freddy's game, though whether or not it's a more traditional entry in the series or another RPG spin-off remains to be seen. In any case, it will be interesting to see if the sales of Cawthon's next project are negatively impacted by the Five Nights at Freddy's World controversy, or if this move will help Cawthon earn back lost trust.

Will you be playing Five Nights at Freddy's World? Did you buy the game when it originally released? Does Cawthon's choice to re-release it for free with added content make up for his initial blunders with the title? Leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts on Five Nights at Freddy's World.

Five Nights at Freddy's World is available now for PC, with a release planned for Android and iOS later this year.

Source: GameSpot