The survival horror game The Forest by developer Endnight has seen a significant increase in player numbers on PS4 and PS5 in the wake of the stunningly successful Sons of the Forest launching into Early Access on PC. The demand for a PS5 and PS4 version of the game is clearly high as players have been flocking to The Forest, causing the count to rise nearly 150 percent on PS4 and PS5 ever since the launch of the sequel.
The Forest has enjoyed a substantial amount of popularity on PS4 and eventually PS5 since the game was released back in 2018, remaining in the Top 100 on the PlayStation Chart for the better part of the past five years. The recent release of a sequel, Sons of the Forest, has now caused this popularity to skyrocket, launching the game into the Top 40 on the PlayStation Chart.
The PlayStation Chart collects data from over 3 million PlayStation Network accounts each week, putting together a list of the most played games. When it comes to The Forest, interest in the PS4 version rose by almost 83 percent in the week after Sons of the Forest came out. The player count rose by an additional 66 percent over the course of the following seven days, bringing the total increase to no less than 149 percent.
Endnight has not yet made an official announcement about bringing Sons of the Forest to PS4 and PS5 despite the stunning surge in demand for a version of the game on these consoles, but the studio has previously expressed interest in a release on the two platforms, promising more news at some point in the very near future. The Forest has managed in the meantime to crush other games like The Witcher 3 and the recently released Wild Hearts in terms of popularity, squeezing them out of the Top 40 on the PlayStation Chart.
The Forest is a survival horror game set in a remote location filled with danger. Players are tasked with staying alive in the face of extraordinary odds by looking for shelter and gathering resources. The game has been praised for its immersive gameplay and terrifying atmosphere, making it a fan favorite among many horror game enthusiasts.
The recent surge in player count reveals the impact that Sons of the Forest has in fact had on the community which has built up around its precursor, The Forest. Whether or not Sons of the Forest will finally make its way onto console remains to be seen, but The Forest has clearly been providing horror game enthusiasts with plenty of challenges to keep them entertained in the meantime.