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Sons of the Forest release date, gameplay, and trailers

The Sons of the Forest release date is now set, with developer Endnight Games confirming early access, story, trailers, and gameplay details.

Sons of the forest release date - a flashlight shines on a faceless cannibal

When is the Sons of the Forest release date? It’s a good question. After all, The Forest 2 has been tough to pin down, but Endnight Games has finally settled on a date, and it’s gaining on us… fast. While we might run from the horrors awaiting us in the long-awaited The Forest sequel, we’re not running from its fast-approaching launch date.

Beyond ever-changing release date announcements though, Endnight Games is keeping details about its new survival game remarkably close to its chest, and comms have been few and far between. When it comes to what players will experience in what could be one of the best horror games of the year, if not one the best PC games overall, we’ve been kept in the dark, so let’s shed some light on what we do know about the Sons of the Forest release date, story, gameplay, and more.

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Sons of the Forest release date

Endnight Games has confirmed that The Sons of the Forest release date is February 23, 2023, on PC via Steam, with an initial early access launch. The survival horror launches on Steam and PC on February 23 at 10am PST/1pm EST/6pm GMT/7pm CET.

Now the Sons of the Forest release date is upon is, we’re pretty sure nothing will change. It nearly did, with the developer instead choosing to settle for an early access release instead of moving the date again. Of course, since the release is early access now, it’s worth bearing in mind that there could still be bugs and issues after February 23 – but at least we’ll finally have the game in our hands.

Sons of the Forest trailers

We’re certain that Endnight Games has remained tight-lipped about  their The Forest sequel on purpose, demonstrated in part by their three simple trailers, titled Trailer 1, Trailer 2, and Trailer 3, and as of February 20, a new multiplayer and building trailer. Even then, the trailers themselves only feature a string of short gameplay clips, but this only adds to the suspense and mystery of the game and its terrifying contents.

Though they haven’t revealed much, this handful of disjointed Sons of the Forest trailers have told us a little something about what to expect from our surroundings, our survival, and the many terrors awaiting us across the Sons of the Forest map. We’ve seen fleshy monsters hurling babies, conjoined cannibals walking on their hands, and our own character warding off enemies with a severed head. And it’s not just horrific creatures threatening our survival, with nature’s animals and the bitter cold working against you, too.

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Sons of the Forest gameplay

Unlike in The Forest, in which you are the lone survivor of a plane crash, you’ve technically chosen to venture into the cannibal-ridden world of Sons in search of a missing billionaire. Keep that in mind as your helicopter plummets to the ground after a mysterious attack. We’re not sure why you’re not just leaving him there to epitomise the phrase Eat the Rich, but, hey, you’ve got bills to pay.

While the circumstances of why you’re looking for this billionaire will be uncovered on the Sons of the Forest release date, we have a pretty good idea of what will happen once you get to the deserted island. Alone or with friends, you’ll be left to explore, craft, survive, and hunt in order to stay alive and fend off cannibalistic threats to your life. An open-world survival horror, Sons of the Forest leaves your journey up to you to tackle as you see fit.

Not only will you be fighting to fend off the many Sons of the Forest mutants, but you’ll also need to fight back against mother nature, as all four seasons are represented in Sons of the Forest (I’d give up looking for this guy, to be honest). The Spring and Summer months might be easier to survive with fresh prey to hunt in the ocean and forest, but the bitter cold of the winter might prove more of a challenge, so make sure you’re prepared.

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Sons of the Forest AI companion

Endnight has confirmed that the man seen by your side in the trailers is Kelvin, your AI companion. Stranded with you as one of your colleagues in the helicopter crash, you can be seen trying to bring Kelvin round from a head injury, which is Endnight’s perfect way of excusing his lack of dialogue.

Kelvin can be seen helping you build, hunt, and fight, so you’ll certainly have more support in the The Forest sequel. What’s more, the developer has confirmed that Kelvin will remain in play in multiplayer mode, too, as seen in the new Sons of the Forest multiplayer trailer above.

Sons of the Forest crafting and building

Sons of the Forest crafting and your inventory looks, in most ways, similar to The Forest, so you should at least know what you’re doing if you’ve played the original. The biggest way in which crafting differs from the first game is with the 3D printer. The new addition should certainly make a lot of crafting easier, and broaden the items that you can craft. However, don’t expect it to be that simple, as of course you need to find resin to use the printer, which will presumably be limited, so use it wisely.

If you haven’t already, then prepare for the sequel by playing The Forest. If you already have, and you’ve exhausted everything the prequel has to offer, we’ve compiled a list of The Forest cheats and console commands, as well as the best The Forest mods currently available to tide you over. Check the PC minimum requirements and recommended specs, with our Sons of the Forest system requirements list.