Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breachwas released in December 2021 to mixed reception, with many fans of the franchise finding it underwhelming with weak gameplay and a lackluster narrative. However, the most egregious offense was the lack of payoff for fans trackingtheFNaFfranchise’s deep and complicated lore. TheRuinDLC, set to release later this year, has the opportunity to realign that lore and transformFive Night at Freddy’s:Security Breachinto a launchpad for the franchise’s future.
Announced in September 2020,Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breachsuffered multiple delays before launching at the very end of 2021. During that time, many theorized about how the title could tie into the series' immense lore, especially considering that so many fresh elements had arrived in the recently concludedFazbear Frightsbook series. Once fans were hands-on with the game, however, they realized that these elements had no part in the game’s narrative. Then, in May 2022, developer Steel Wool Studios revealed a teaser poster for theFive Nights at Freddy’s Security Breach RuinDLC, which appeared to pivot the title back toward the series' darker roots that could create a compelling narrative and realign with the series' lore.
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Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach DLC - Horror Takes the Main Stage
Five Nights at Freddy’sis best known for two things: its jumpscares and its complicated lore. Fans of the series are routinely left to defend themselves against an onslaught of mechanized terror in dark and mysterious locations. Part of what madeFive Nights at Freddy’sa success storyis how those environments balance stress-inducing quiet and sudden, ear-shattering attacks from the series' cast of animatronics. InFive Nights at Freddy’s:Security Breach, however, fans were presented with the Pizzaplex, a location brimming with colorful lights and sound, and animatronics that announced their presence long before they posed a threat. Excluding a few of the game’s endings, a player could completeFNaF: Security Breach’s story having only dealt with one or two slightly creepy situations.
Earlytrailers forFive Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breachpromised a terrifying experience before delivering quite the opposite. TheRuinDLC appears to correct this error, with the teaser poster promising a much darker Pizzaplex to explore. If Steel Wool wants to truly return to the series' roots, however, that location needs to be utilized better. The sights and sounds of the DLC need to turn the location into a never-ending sequence of darkly-lit corridors and muffled sounds. Gameplay should return to players being tasked with learning the animatronics' subtle “tells” as they navigate around them to reach the next location. Failure to do so should result in a rapid and terrifying jumpscare animation. If Steel Wool applies these features to the Pizzaplex at large, it’ll set the stage for a lore-aligned narrative with significant repercussions.
Introduce Remnant and Agony
Five Nights at Freddy’shas steadily introduced fans to the elements responsible for the series' paranormal events. Among the most important of these are Remnant and Agony. Remnant is described as a containable human soul that has attached to an inanimate object, such as a child’s spirit possessing an animatronic. Between the video game series and novels, fans have had to keep track of various depictions of Remnant, such as a metallic liquid or floating collectible. Remnant was introduced to the video game series inFive Nights at Freddy’s: Pizzeria Simulator, where it appears in blueprints for the Scooper and in previously scrapped schematics for Molten Freddy. It would later appear in bothFive Nights at Freddy’s: The Ultimate Guideand theFazbear Frightsbooks.
Agony is essentially Remnant’s opposite in theFazbear Frightsnovels and plays a central role in its many stories. Agony is said to be a powerful negative emotion that can haunt inanimate objects near sites of tragedy. As theFazbear Frightsseries acted as the primary lead-up to the release ofSecurity Breach, many fans believed it to be an integral part of the game’s narrative. However, the game mentioned neither Remnant nor Agony, leaving them among the manydangling threads ofFive Nights at Freddy’slore.
Steel Wool could easily add these elements into theFive Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach RuinDLC, as the base game never fully detailed the Pizzaplex’s history. Many of its inhabitants are hostile, only some of which appear controlled by the game’s antagonists, Vanny and William Afton. By introducing a central tragedy, the DLC could complement any one ofFive Night at Freddy’s: Security Breach’s many endingsin a way that ties the title into the series' larger lore, making the game essential for fans once again.
Circus Baby
Another lore thread left dangling in both the video game and book series is the fate of Circus Baby. Baby debuted inFive Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location, where she acted as the player’s guide before betraying them as part of the amalgamation animatronic Ennard. As detailed in the source code from developer Scott Cawthon’s now dormant website SCOTTGAMES.COM, Baby later removed herself from Ennard, taking the form of Scrapbaby inFive Nights at Freddy’s: Pizzeria SimulatorandUltimate Custom Night.The animatronic was shown to be destroyed along with many others in the final moments ofPizzeria Simulator, includingseries antagonist William Afton.
CircusBaby appears as a secondary antagonist in the novelThe Fourth Closetand the main antagonist in theFazbear Frightsseries, in the form of Eleanor. She was integral to many of the tales withinFazbear Frightsand was left seemingly defeated by the book series' end. As theFazbear Frightsnovels were written to signal truths of the series' deeper lore, many believed the books to be setting up Circus Baby as the true villain ofFive Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach.
Fans let out a collective groan when the final objective for the"Canon Ending" ofFive Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breachrevealed William Afton as the title’s secret antagonist. Having “killed” Afton many times at this point in the series, players were tasked once again with burning Afton to complete the game. However, with Steel Wool dropping hints of an unknown figure controlling Fazbear Entertainment, it is entirely possible the developer could shift the focus to Circus Baby in theRuinDLC. Since Afton appears to awaken mere moments before the game’s end, Steel Wool could dismiss his involvement in much of the events that occur within the Pizzaplex. This leaves theRuinDLC ample room to refocus on a stronger villain and connectFive Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breachto the previously established lore and please longtime fans.
When theFive Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach RuinDLC launches later this year, it could sealSecurity Breach’s fate as either the series' most disappointing entry or the foundation for its future. If the DLC can find a way to tie up loose ends from the series' past, it could easily turnFive Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breachinto a satisfying title for new and old fans alike. By implementing the horror characteristics of previous entries in a way that affirms longtime lore implications, theFive Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach RuinDLC could lead the series into a new era of terrifying possibilities.
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breachis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The Ruin DLC is expected to launch later this year.
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