Sons of the Forest: Release Date and All We Know

If you are a fan of survival games, you might have heard about a little game known as The Forest. Released by developer Endnight Games in 2014, the game found massive success due to several reasons.

Sons of the Forest is its highly anticipated sequel that was initially revealed in late 2019. Since then, players all around the world have been speculating about its release date and what new things might be added to the game.

After seeing the recent trailers, we can safely say that a lot of new information about the game has been revealed, and we cannot wait to get our hands on it. With that said, here’s everything we know about Sons of the Forest, including its release date, gameplay changes, and more!

Sons Of The Forest Release Date

Sons of the Forest is officially released on February 23, 2023, at a price tag of $29.99.

It is after countless delays and endless waits that we are getting the game. The official announcement was made by devs on Endnight Game’s official Twitter.

Originally, the game was given a release window of 2021, and then it was delayed to May 2022. But, developer Endnight Games confirmed that they need to polish the game further. Later, a tweet from the devs confirmed that the game will release “early to mid-2022″. That didn’t age well and we had yet another delay.

Hopefully, the latest release date is final this time around, and the game will be finalized before that. It’s helpful that the developers are being transparent and want to release a finished product rather than putting out a buggy game with tons of glitches.

Stick around as we keep our eye for the first sign of getting your hands on this incredible survival sequel!

Can I Pre-Order Sons of the Forest?

Unfortunately, the pre-orders for Sons of the Forest haven’t started since the release date was released just a while ago.

Considering Sons of the Forest is releasing on 23rd February 2023, the pre-order links will probably go live in the first half of January 2023.

Since the exact pre-order date hasn’t been revealed, we can only hope for the fated day to come sooner! Until then, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for the announcement to save you the trouble of searching aimlessly.

Why Did Sons Of The Forest Get Delayed?

With the devs mentioning time and time again that their previous release dates were “overly ambitious”, it’s only logical to ponder over what’s happening. However, if we logically think about it, Sons of the Forest getting delayed so much isn’t really that bad.

We all know what happened with Cyberpunk 2077. CD Projekt Red set a highly optimistic release date for their game, and due to pressure from the shareholders and many more factors, the devs had to release the game in its overly buggy state.

As a result, CDPR managed to ruin the launch of a game that had the potential to be the biggest of our generation.

The Sons Of The Forest Plot

In the original game, players assumed the role of Eric LeBlanc who was looking for his son while surviving on a forested peninsula after a terrible plane crash. The game had you look for food, supplies, and materials to craft weapons and shelter.

This time around, Sons of the Forest starts with a – you’ve guessed it – helicopter crash that leaves the player stranded in a forest. After waking up, the player finds a spooky lady that suggests that there’s a narrative thread to follow.

While there haven’t been any other details surrounding the main story of the game, we can assume that the native tribe isn’t happy about our arrival. That is why the player has to fight against a lot of them. From the looks of it in the trailer, the player’s actions will seemingly play a larger role in how the world shapes up.

However, the recent Steam page of the game and the trailers reveal more information about the plot. They suggest that the “players will be taking on the role of a character who has been sent to find a missing billionaire on a remote island.” Plus, the main character isn’t named, which suggests that we might have the option to create our own character in this game.

According to some theories, we might see either Eric – the protagonist of the first game – or his son Timmy make a cameo appearance in this game. At the same time, there’s even a theory that the game could pick up where The Forest let off. We will just have to wait and see what happens. Needless to say, the game and its upgraded look have gotten a lot of players excited about it.

Sons of The Forest Beta Test Review

Endnight Games don’t have a huge social media presence and they have sort of kept hush about the development of their upcoming project – Sons of The Forest. It is because they want to put their entire focus on developing the game rather than spending time giving interviews.

To everyone’s surprise, they invited Youtuber Farkat to come and test their game prior to the release. He was under a Non-Disclosure Agreement and couldn’t say much. He did say a few things which have definitely got us excited for the game.

The YouTuber plays a lot of The Forest, a previous iteration of the game, on his youtube channel so he knew what he was doing. He mentioned specifically that graphics are absolutely bonkers. They are not what we have seen in previews and trailers. They definitely are a major step up from The Forest.

He further mentioned they alongside major changes Endnight has also added some quality-of-life improvements and every change has a very positive impact on the gameplay. The game was stated as “an evolution from The Forest”.

If Endnight is inviting people out to test their game then this means that the game is ready and the current release date we have is the final one with no more delays. We couldn’t be more stoked.

Gameplay Changes

Since this is a sequel, the game will feature tons of new gameplay mechanics as well as enhanced elements from the first. First things first, the visuals are improved significantly over the previous game, and it looks absolutely amazing!

Secondly, the game’s AI seems to be much more advanced, and the behavior of the characters will have a great role to play. This time around, the AI will not attack you on sight. And you might even meet some friendly faces along the way. However, most of the cannibals want to eat you, so they will try to sneak up on you and attack or ambush you. We’ll get into the AI aspect of the game down below. For now, let’s get into what we can expect from the gameplay changes in store for players.

A Survival Horror Simulator

The game is defined as a “survival horror simulator.” This is no surprise, as the prequel followed the same formula that led to such a commercial and critical success. There are no NPCs that will show you the way or tell you what to do, making things more real and tenser. Instead, the player will have to figure out what they need to do next and immerse themselves into their own survival.

It has the basics of every survival game and adds the notion of realistically interacting with everything around you. You cut the trees to get wood, skin animals for pelt, and sharpen wood to make spears. The developers have stated countless times how creative and flexible the game’s survival can actually be.

You are in control of your story and how it plays out. According to the trailers, this truly seems like the game will play out differently for every player and every playthrough.

Area Setting, Map Size, and Weather System

The first major change to the game comes in the form of the playable area. The map for Sons of the Forest will be 4x bigger than the one seen in The Forest. Furthermore, the setting seems familiar to the Site 2 map players may have come across at the climax of the first game. Endnight Games have outdone themselves again on the sheer scope of survival in such a robust open-world map.

The environment of the game seems similar to the original but now has an impressive new addition of a dynamic weather system in play. This aspect of the game will affect not only the land’s layout but also the player’s survival.

Sourcing food and hunting will change drastically between seasons, and the element of weather changes will alter the behavior of enemies as well. Players will have a tougher challenge of surviving if they’re not prepared for these changes during their playthroughs.

Crafting and Building Mechanics Revamp

Sons of the Forest has already been confirmed to have a more powerful and improved system for crafting, cooking, and building. Noticeably, the sequel has introduced the element of digging into its building mechanics. While it seems like a rather uninteresting addition to the system, its implications are quite vast, with structures having more nuanced designs.

Another major addition to crafting includes a 3D printer that be either used to craft elaborate items or make more customized gear. We’ve already seen a pretty crucial use for the 3D printer in the trailer, where a printed mask helps players masquerade as an elite cannibal unit. This particular addition to the game shakes up a lot of crafting opportunities for players and creates a new and exciting way to survive.

Furthermore, the building aspect is still one of the main gameplay elements for Sons of the Forest. And this time around, players can expect a more immersive and grounded approach to this core element. An example would be the countless new ways players can interact with wood during crafting and building. The possibilities seem endless, and we can’t wait to see how the game showcases its improvements.

Weapons and Combat

The survival and combat theme this time around has a modern look to it. We’ve seen characters in combat gear, military vehicles and weapons, and even explosives in trailers. Endnight Games themselves mentioned that there would be more guns in this game, although combat will be balanced by making ammunition scarce throughout playthroughs.

That being said, the developers also laid down the fact that melee weapons are still the go-to in most altercations. And there’s no question that the team behind the original game has certainly improved on that front.

There is a wide assortment of weapons to go around, most of them creative new takes on your usual types. From axes, knives, and batons to pistols, shotguns, and rifles, Sons of the Forest features a whole cornucopia of weapon choices for players to choose from.

Below are just some of the weapon types we’ve come across while watching the various trailers for the game, with much more unknown:

A More Intuitive AI for Sons of the Forest

The game will feature improved AI that will react according to the player’s actions. The devs programmed a new A.I. tool called V.A.I.L., which “allows for the creation of some extremely complex behavior, and characters can now become afraid, tired, angry, hungry, thirsty, tired, etc., and these influence their decisions.“

Not only this, but the devs also stated that the AI would launch “much more coordinated attacks” on the player. This means that you will have to take extra care while fighting enemies since they can surround you and attack.

Sons Of The Forest: New Enemies!

Alongside the improvements to the AI, there are new types of enemies added to the game as well. While the game will feature previous enemy types as well, having more variation means that the game will feel fresh. Let’s take a look at some of the enemy types in the game.

Cannibals

First up, we have the regular cannibals. These are the basic enemies that will be spread throughout the map of the game. Displaying the skull of another cannibal can simply scare them away. They can be hostile, although not to the same extent as certain others.

Cave Cannibals

The cave cannibals are the second group. They’re a bit indolent and won’t get into too many fights. The majority of them may be found in caves.

Masked Cannibals

Lastly, we have the strongest cannibals, the masked ones. They will be hostile not only toward you but also towards other cannibals. Their whole tribe wears a golden mask, and if you somehow 3D print it, they won’t attack you but rather take your side.

Enemies: Rumors & Leaks

Apart from them, there will be more mutants as well. We can see fingers and twins in the latest trailer alongside a blob-like creature that was throwing dead mutant babies. In addition, there is a shark that can be aggressive but can also be killed.

One of the creatures (not necessarily an enemy) is Virginia, the lady with three legs and hands. This is what Endnight Games had to say about the particularly unique character:

She doesn’t give you missions or anything like that; you can try to have her like you, ignore her, scare her off, how you interact with her is up to each player and we hope everyone will have really unique interactions with her.

Endnight Games

Will Sons of The Forest Have Multiplayer?

Yes, Sons of The Forest will have multiplayer. Having the ability to play co-op in survival games like these is a massive bonus. The game automatically becomes more fun and more intense in some cases too.

You can play alongside three different people and survey the entire island, protect each other, build items cooperatively, make your plans together, and much more. Make sure you stick together with your group to have increased chances of survivability.

Endnight game has yet to officially confirm if the sequel will have the capacity to support 8 players in co-op mode. For now, the official take is just 4 players, so we’ll wait and see if the developers add room for more later.

System Requirements for Sons of the Forest

The official system requirements have not been revealed yet, but we are certain that the devs will update the Steam page and add them soon. However, till then, we can make an assumption while keeping in mind The Forest‘s requirements.

Do note that a lot of time has passed between the two games, so Sons of the Forest will naturally have higher system requirements. Here are the assumed system requirements for Sons of the Forest:

Sons of the Forest Minimum Requirements

• Memory: 4 GB
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 or ATI Radeon HD 3850
• CPU: Intel Core i3-4120
• File Size: 15 GB
• OS: Windows 7
• Dedicated GPU Memory: 1 GB

Sons of the Forest Recommended Requirements

• Memory: 8 GB
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD RX580
• CPU: Intel Core i5-4460
• File Size: 15 GB
• OS: Windows 10
• Dedicated GPU Memory: 4 GB

Sons Of The Forest – Platforms

While we don’t currently have an official word on Sons of the Forest platforms, we can make some decent assumptions based on the first game. Just like The Forest, the sequel will initially release on the PC.

The reason why we speculate that the game will only release on PC off the bat is because of how small the team at Endnight Games really is. Their workforce only consists of 10-15 employees. This is also the primary reason why the game has been continuously delayed and worked on. The team behind the game has said that they feel the game needs more polish to feel completely perfect.

While the prequel got a port on the PlayStation 4, we will have to wait and see what the developers decide. This time around, the devs might only focus on making this game a “next-gen” experience and bring it to the PlayStation 5 instead. From the trailer, we can expect somewhat photorealistic graphics from the developers, so there’s definitely a chance that they might need the SSDs in next-gen consoles.

Will Sons of The Forest Have Cross-Platform?

No. Sons of the Forest will not have cross-platform compatibility.

It is for obvious reasons. The game is only being released for PC (for now, hopefully) and we don’t need crossplay for that. The game might see a console port sometime after the release of its PC counterpart but still, there is no way to confirm that it will allow us to play with people on other platforms.

The Forest also didn’t have cross-platform play yet it was a huge success. Though times have changed and the world is moving forward. Most new games now have this feature and if Endpoint Games want to keep up, they might want to add it down the line if they release the game for consoles.

Conclusion

This is all we knew about the Sons of the Forest release date and its details so far. The game is bound to succeed, looking at its forerunner and what we can see from the trailers. We cannot wait to get our hands on the game so that we can dive deep and survive in this latest sandbox.

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