As an adult, one of the scariest places that you can go is Chuck E. Cheese. There’s a ton of mostly unsupervised children running around with an unhinged amount of energy. Everyone is yelling and there’s a ton of flashing lights, expensive yet cheap games, and food that isn’t great. And, of course, Charles Entertainment Cheese and his weird animatronic band are chilling, too. Perhaps that’s why Five Nights at Freddy’s is so frightening, and why we are a little concerned that a real Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza is coming in 2027.
According to Variety, this location will be in East Rutherford, NJ. It will mimic the infamous pizza joint from the games as well as the ongoing film franchise. The real-life Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza will have two animatronic stage shows: one with Freddy and the Fazbear band and the Pirate Cove featuring Foxy the Pirate. Hopefully, they are just there to entertain attendees and not for more sinister reasons. Those who are brave enough to attend can play games, eat pizza, and even play survival horror multiplayer games.
“The only way this experience succeeds is if it’s created by a team that knows Five Nights at Freddy’s inside and out,” said Atreyu Alcantar, creative manager, licensing & location-based entertainment at American Dream and creative lead for the attraction. “The animatronic show has to be authentic. The food has to be high quality. And above all else, we’re not building a set that looks like Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza – we’re building Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. This experience will immerse longtime fans in the world they’ve imagined for years while welcoming an entirely new audience to discover it for the first time.”
Nerdist’s Take: A Five Nights at Freddy’s Real Life Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Is Gen Z Heaven
FNAF, as the youths call it, is a relatively newer franchise that got its start in 2014. While there are likely younger Millennials who were playing the game, it probably resonates more with Gen Z. And right now, Gen Z is out and about in the world, hanging out with friends, going to movies, and spending money. This location will give them that nostalgia of their youth, especially if they are elder Gen Z and in their late 20s.
Even for the younger Gen Z crowd, Five Nights at Freddy’s was a part of their elementary school experience and they have basically grown up with this franchise as their gateway into gaming and horror. So while I, a Millennial who is almost 40, do not wish to go to the weird animatronic pizza place, my almost 17-year-old is excited and will surely end up planning a trip against my will.
We will have to see when the real Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza comes to life in 2027 to give us a full Five Nights at Freddy’s experience.