✰PREMIUM
Kingsborough professor voices new iteration of horror video game ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’

BENSONHURST — A Bensonhurst native and Kingsborough Community College professor snagged a voice acting role in a popular horror video game franchise.

In “Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit,” author Patrick Hickey Jr. plays the voice of the game’s narrator named Phone Guy, as well as Freddy Fazbear’s PA announcer. 

“They are essentially the only real characters with lines in the game, so it was a huge responsibility and one I took tremendously seriously,” Hickey Jr. said. “Prior to ‘Into the Pit,’ the creator of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Scott Cawthon voiced Phone Guy, and it’s easily one of the most important characters in video games over the last 25 years. I listened to virtually every line he’s done in the series as preparation, but I was still petrified because of how passionate the fanbase is.”

The game was released digitally on several platforms this past fall and has been a critical and commercial success.

Following its release, Hickey Jr. said he’s received a positive response from fans, which is a gratifying part of the experience.

“I’ve been flooded with things to sign, and every event I’ve been a guest at, the lines get bigger,” he said. “With the game’s physical release on June 20, the fun continues. I just came back from a convention in Chicago and signed over 100 ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Funko and merch. It’s been surreal.”

Hickey Jr. started doing voice work in 2016. He was working as an editor and writer for a horror game, and an actor left the project. 

“It’s something I always wanted to do, but didn’t have the opportunity to,” he explained. “We were in a pickle, so I stepped in and crushed it. After that, because I’ve spent so much time in the industry as a journalist and historian, I had a nice following, and then game developers began calling.”

Over the last 10 years, Hickey Jr. has done voice-overs for around 25 trailers for indie games and has been lead voice-over in several games, including “The Padre,” “The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell,” “The Kaiju Offensive,” “BPM Boy” and over 65 voices in “WrestleQuest.”

“I love putting my own spin on characters and creating new ones,” Hickey Jr. said. “Playing professional boxers — like Rocky Marciano and Sugar Ray Robinson or even Dracula and Macho Man Randy Savage in ‘Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood’ and ‘WrestleQuests,’ respectively — was a blast, but I don’t consider myself an impressionist. I like to read scripts and bring characters alive.”

When he’s not doing voice-overs or writing his comics and books, Hickey Jr. is the director of the journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is currently an assistant professor in the communications department. He is also the chair of the City University of New York Journalism Discipline Council. 

“It’s been great,” he said of the experience. “The fans that I’ve met have totally embraced me. My kids love the series, so they get to tell people their dad is Phone Guy.”

This fall, Hickey Jr. will be releasing three more comics. 

“I’ve been able to do some amazing things because I’ve always bet on myself, even when many people didn’t get what I was doing, understand why, or were even annoyed by my passion, vigor and persistence,” he said. “At 42, all the tough times and moments of not giving up have come full circle. Playing Phone Guy in ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’ has been a career-defining role as a voice actor and has also allowed me to introduce people to my ‘Minds Behind the Games’ video game history books and Legacy Comix.”