The sequel to "The Forest" (opens in new tab), a survival horror game with a survival twist, will still be released on February 23, 2023, but it will not be a finished game, according to developer Endnight Games. "Sons of the Forest" (opens in new tab) will instead be released in Early Access, not because the developer prefers that method, but to avoid another significant delay in the release date. (opens in new tab)

"It has been a long journey since we first began development of 'Sons of The Forest' and it has grown into the most complex game we have ever made," Endnight Games said in a statement (opens in new tab). There is still so much more to add: items, new mechanics, gameplay balance, etc. We didn't want to postpone again. We didn't want to postpone again, so instead we decided to involve the community in the ongoing development of this project and keep the release date of February 23rd and release it in Early Access instead.

This is a different approach than many other developers have taken, as there have been significant postponements in all kinds of games over the past few years. This is not the first time End Knight has tried Early Access.

Sons of the Forest is what Endnight calls a survival horror simulator, a world where you must survive both hostile terrain and attacks by a society of creepy cannibal mutants. Characters are stranded on a remote island after going in search of a missing billionaire. Therefore, they must avoid getting themselves eaten while doing all the usual survival game requirements such as crafting, harvesting, lumbering, hunting, etc.

The Sons of the Forest community seems to have responded fairly well, all things considered, with some welcoming the decision and others telling developers to take their time. Still, a significant minority dislikes the choice, fearing that it will prolong the development time until the finished game is released or that the final end product will be of low quality.

In any case, we called Sons of the Forest one of the survival games to look forward to in 2023. (Opens in new tab) Sons of the Forest can be found on Steam. (opens in new tab) [11].