Sons of the Forest provided the original game with a big popularity boost on PlayStation, according to Sony's newly shared list of top game downloads for February 2023. This is yet another testament to the incredible success that Endnight Games' horror game has achieved, with Valve itself recently confirming that Sons of the Forest is currently among Steam's best-selling games.
Released in early access on February 23, Sons of the Forest continues the story of a cannibalistic society featured in its 2018 predecessor while expanding on its premise with the addition of a complex AI system and co-op multiplayer for up to eight players, among other new features. The cult following enjoyed by the previous game and positive reactions to its follow-up have both helped Sons of the Forest outpace Hogwarts Legacy on Steam within days of its release even as the new Harry Potter RPG was breaking sales records all over the world.
As revealed by Sony's latest list of top PlayStation game downloads, that success of Sons of the Forest has now also translated into renewed interest in the original game. Namely, The Forest was Europe's third most downloaded PS4 game in February 2023, while also placing eighth in North American rankings for the same period. Seeing how the PS5 offers backwards compatibility with the PS4, it's possible that The Forest's February popularity was also boosted by the owners of Sony's latest gaming system. The most downloaded PS4 games during the observed period in both North America and Europe were The Last of Us Part 2 and Minecraft, in that order.
Endnight Games recently revealed that Sons of the Forest hit two million sales within the first 24 hours of releasing, while its previous title managed to sell five million copies as of late 2018. As such, it is plausible that a lot of people who downloaded The Forest on a PlayStation console in February were returning players and not necessarily new buyers, though that's not to take away from the massive momentum that both games seem to be enjoying right now.
Despite this renewed interest in The Forest among PlayStation gamers, neither Endnight Games nor its publisher have yet said anything about the possibility of bringing Sons of the Forest to consoles. A potential port still isn't out of the question, not least because the original survival horror prioritized PC development as well, then ended up launching on the PS4 in late 2018, some half a year after its early access phase was concluded. But the Canadian studio's track record also indicates Sons of the Forest is unlikely to go multi-platform anytime soon, seeing how The Forest spent nearly four years in early access, having initially debuted on Steam in mid-2014.
Sons of the Forest is available now in early access on PC.
Source: PlayStation