The Forest was released in 2018, first on PC, then on PlayStation 4, and it quickly became a remarkably popular title. It places players in a perilous position, thrusting them into an intense, desperate fight for survival on a hostile, mysterious island, following a plane crash. It’s a relatively terrifying title by itself, but thanks to multiplayer features, players don’t have to face the darkness alone. Today, we’re here to take a look at those multiplayer functions, answering the question: is The Forest cross-platform?
As a survival horror game, The Forest isn’t particularly unique, as it’s a genre that has exploded in recent years. However, it is one of the leading titles within that niche, despite only being available on two platforms. There’s a sequel in the works, known as Sons of the Forest, which will release in October 2022. From the moment The Forest launched, it made waves in the gaming community, owing mostly to the creepy enemies that are rampant throughout the game, and the freedom that the game offered players.
It’s a beloved multiplayer title, but is The Forest cross-platform?
Image Credit: Endnight Games
The Forest is a relatively basic title at heart, but it offers an amazing amount of freedom to players. It’s a survival game, so it requires players to scavenge for resources, including food, water, weapons, and materials with which a ‘base’ can be built. There’s an expansive, unrestricted building mechanic that serves as one of the core features of The Forest, and it’s one of the main reasons the game became so popular, so fast.
In The Forest, friends can work together to build as big a base as they desire. They’re limited only by the speed at which they can build things, and by the constant attacks by cannibalistic enemies. There’s a whole host of buildings that can be constructed from the ground up, as well as a wide range of tools, and even vehicles, such as rafts. At the top of the table sits fantastical creations, like infinite ziplines and rollercoasters.
It might sound strange, given that this is a terrifying fight for survival, but ignoring the story for a while and building a theme park really is a possibility in The Forest.
Ultimately, The Forest is so popular because it’s a familiar and comfortable experience. It isn’t overwhelmingly difficult, it boasts a relatively intense story, and it offers heart-pounding, adrenaline-filled fights. On the surface, The Forest is a fantastic game, and it’s one that can be revisited over and over again.
But is The Forest crossplay? Let’s find out.
Unfortunately, The Forest is not a crossplay game, restricting players to the unique platform upon which they’re playing it. This means that if your friend is playing on PC and you’re on PlayStation 4, there’s no way for you two to join forces.
What is cross-platform play? It’s a simple mechanic in some modern-day multiplayer games that allows players to play with gamers that aren’t necessarily using their format. For instance, in a crossplay or cross-platform game, if your friend was playing on Xbox and you were on PlayStation, you could still join up and play the same game together, at the same time.
The Forest isn’t a cross-play title, nor does it boast cross-progression. This means that if you play The Forest on PlayStation and then buy it again on PC, there’s no way to transfer saves across – they’re gone forever, or at least until you go back to the first format.
Will The Forest 2 be cross-platform? That’s a great question, but at present, the default answer is ‘no’, for the simple reason that Sons of The Forest is only launching on PC.
If you want to play with friends across different platforms, there are other games out there that boast crossplay mechanics. For instance, if you like building, Minecraft crossplay has been made possible through the uniting of platforms in the Bedrock Edition. If you want to build and avoid bloodthirsty creatures, then you could opt for the dinosaur-ridden world found in Ark crossplay, which boasts some cross-platform mechanics.
It’s a diverse world out there, and hopefully one day, all multiplayer games will be cross-platform.
Read Also: Games that are cross-platform
EN Global 
JP 日本語
BR Português