You’re standing on a snowy mountain peak, clutching a tactical axe while your buddy is stuck staring at a different loading screen on a completely different device. It’s the classic modern gaming tragedy. Everyone wants to know the same thing: is Sons of the Forest cross-platform yet? Honestly, the answer is a bit of a gut punch if you were planning on a mixed-hardware squad tonight.
Endnight Games released the sequel to The Forest into a frenzy of hype. It’s bigger, prettier, and has Kelvin—the lovable, brain-damaged AI companion who somehow manages to cut down the tree your treehouse is built on. But for all its technical leaps, the multiplayer infrastructure still feels a bit stuck in the past.
As of right now, Sons of the Forest is not cross-platform. If you are playing on PC via Steam, you can only play with other PC players. There is no magic bridge connecting you to PlayStation or Xbox users, mostly because the game hasn’t even officially landed on those consoles in a finished state yet. It’s a bummer. We’ve seen this pattern before with indie survival hits, where the "platform parity" dream remains just that—a dream—for months or even years after launch.
The Current State of Multiplayer Compatibility
The reality is pretty simple. You buy it on Steam; you play with Steam friends.
Endnight has always been a "PC first" developer. Think back to the original game, The Forest. It spent a literal eternity in Early Access on PC before it ever sniffed a console port. Even when it finally hit PlayStation 4, cross-play was nowhere to be found. They aren't a massive studio like Ubisoft or Activision with thousands of engineers dedicated to netcode. They are a smaller, tight-knit team focused on making the cannibal-infested woods look terrifyingly real.
Basically, if your friend group is split between a high-end rig and a console, someone is going to have to switch sides.
There’s also the issue of versioning. PC games get hotfixes almost daily when a big patch drops. Consoles have a rigorous "certification" process. This gap makes cross-play a nightmare for small teams because the PC version might be on version 1.05 while the console is stuck on 1.03, and those two versions physically cannot talk to each other.
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What About the "Console Port" Rumors?
Everyone is talking about it. You've probably seen the threads. People are desperate for a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S release. While Endnight hasn't ruled it out—in fact, they've hinted they'd "love" to bring it to consoles—there is no official date.
And even if it hits consoles tomorrow? Don't hold your breath for cross-play.
Implementing a unified account system (like an Activision ID or an Epic Games account) is a massive undertaking. Without that backbone, syncing a Steam player with a PlayStation Network player is like trying to get a toaster to talk to a microwave. It’s possible, but it requires a lot of extra hardware and headache that many indie devs decide isn't worth the squeeze.
Why Cross-Play Matters for Survival Horror
In a game like Sons of the Forest, the multiplayer isn't just a "nice to have" feature. It’s the core experience for most. Exploring a pitch-black cave system is significantly less traumatizing when you have three idiots with flashlights screaming alongside you.
When a game lacks cross-platform support, it fragments the community.
Imagine you’ve spent forty hours building a multi-story fortress. You’ve got a zip-line system that would make a theme park jealous. Then, your best friend finally gets the game—but they got it on a different system. You can’t show them your work. You can’t help them survive their first night. You’re essentially playing two different games in two different silos.
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This is why the question is Sons of the Forest cross-platform gets searched thousands of times a month. People aren't just curious about tech specs; they want to know if their social circle is about to be gated by a $500 hardware choice.
The Technical Hurdles Nobody Mentions
Building a game for PC is like building a car for a road that is constantly changing. Building for consoles is like building for a track with very specific walls.
- Input Latency: PC players have a massive advantage with mouse and keyboard precision, though in a PvE (Player vs. Environment) game like this, that matters less than in Call of Duty.
- Update Synchronization: As mentioned, Steam allows devs to push a button and update the game. Sony and Microsoft don't.
- Server Architecture: Most Sons of the Forest multiplayer is peer-to-peer or hosted on dedicated private servers. Integrating console networks into that existing P2P mesh is a coding nightmare.
Comparing the Experience: PC vs. Potential Console Ports
If you’re waiting for a console version because you think it’ll be "more stable," you might want to reconsider. Sons of the Forest is an absolute resource hog. It eats RAM for breakfast.
On PC, you have the luxury of tweaking settings. You can turn down the micro-shadows or the grass density to keep your frame rate from tanking when a group of mutants raids your camp. On a console, you’re locked into whatever preset the developer gives you.
If and when the game does arrive on consoles, expect it to be a "next-gen only" affair. The PS4 and Xbox One would likely melt trying to render the volumetric fog and complex AI routines of the new cannibal tribes.
Is There a Workaround?
Not really. You can't "trick" the game into working across platforms. Some people mention "cross-progression" (carrying your save from one device to another), but even that isn't present here. Your save file lives on your PC or in the Steam Cloud.
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If you really want to play with friends on different hardware, the only real solution is cloud gaming services like GeForce Now—assuming everyone has a PC or a compatible device to stream the Steam version. That way, you're all technically playing the "PC version," even if one of you is on a crusty old laptop and the other is on a Mac.
What Should You Do Now?
If you were holding out on buying the game until it went cross-platform, you might be waiting for a very long time. Possibly forever.
Endnight has a history of perfecting the single-platform experience before even looking at the horizon. Their focus right now is adding more story content, more buildable items, and refining the AI. Cross-platform play is usually a "Phase 3" or "Phase 4" priority for studios of this size.
If your squad is already on PC, jump in. It’s a fantastic, weird, and often terrifying evolution of the first game. The building mechanics are tactile and satisfying—you're actually snapping logs together rather than just clicking a ghost image.
Next Steps for Players:
- Check Your Specs: Before buying, ensure everyone in your group meets the minimum requirements. This game is much heavier than its predecessor.
- Coordinate the Platform: If half the group is waiting for a PS5 release, realize that you likely won't be playing together anyway. It’s better to have everyone converge on one platform now.
- Use Dedicated Servers: If you have a large group, look into renting a dedicated server. It prevents the "host must be online" headache and keeps the performance smoother for everyone involved.
- Monitor the Patch Notes: Endnight is active on X (formerly Twitter) and Steam. If cross-play ever enters development, it will be announced there first, likely alongside a major "1.0" or "2.0" style update.
The forest is a lonely place without friends. Just make sure those friends are all using the same hardware before you start building your cabin.