Surviving in a wild forest laden with cannibals alone is a pretty big ask. But with the help of a few friends, even the most wicked creatures of the forest won’t be able to do any harm. In The Forest, the depths of the woods are occupied with various sorts of creatures and to survive the plane crash, one must use their wilderness skills to get by.
The Forest is enjoyed to its full extent when you’re playing with friends. And if your buddies are using different gaming hardware than yourself, the game must have the cross-platform feature. This feature allows players to team up with each other, regardless of their hardware. In today’s round-up, we’ll answer the question: Is The Forest Cross Platform Enabled in Multiplayer?
One What Devices can You Play The Forest?
Developed by Endnight Games, The Forest is made available for Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Microsoft Windows, and Android devices. The survival simulator is unavailable on the Xbox console since the developers haven’t released a port for the Xbox family yet. But, the next installment in the franchise, The Forest 2 will be released on Xbox Series X/S along with other gaming devices.
For now, if you are just getting into The Forest, you may also want to check out this beginner’s guide to help get you started.
What is Cross-platform?
If a game is available on various gaming platforms and all of them operate on the same servers, the game is said to have cross-platform functionality. For example, if a game supports cross-platform play then all the players would be able to play alongside each other regardless of their gaming platform. Fortnite and Call of Duty Warzone are the finest examples of games that support cross-platform play.
On the contrary, if a game does not feature cross-platform functionality, players on Xbox would only be able to play alongside other Xbox players. The same could be said for Playstation and PC users as well.
Cross platform gameplay is great because it means that players get to play with their friends, regardless of what hardware each may have. The downside of cross platform gameplay is that players may complain that some devices offer too great of an advantage. In FPS games, aiming with a mouse often provides a significant advantage compared to a joystick. While crossplay may not be great for competitive eSports, it does provide more fun for amateur gamers just looking to have fun with friends.
Is the Forest Cross Platform Multiplayer Enabled?
The Forest does not support cross-platform play. Many games, including Fallout 76 and DayZ do not support cross platform play. Despite being available on many gaming platforms, the developers have not announced the cross-platform feature for The Forest. This could be due to the fact that the game is quite old and cross-platform play is a relatively new feature to the gaming universe.
The Forest was released in 2014 and at that point, the concept of cross-platform play was unavailable. But, in the latest installment, the game is expected to have cross-platform functionality.
Moreover, in case you were wondering if you could pair up with a friend on The Forest from a different console, it is not possible since the game doesn’t offer cross-platform play.
Can you cross-play The Forest Between PC and Playstation?
Unfortunately, the answer is ‘No’. The Forest uses different servers for PC and Playstation and it is not possible for PC players to play alongside Playstation players. It is noted that in outdated games, adding the cross-play feature could negatively impact the in-game performance. Perhaps this is the reason why The Forest is not equipped with cross-platform ability.
Can you Play The Forest Between PS5 and PS4 (i.e. Cross Generation)?
The Forest isn’t natively available for Playstation 5. But with the console’s backward compatibility, PlayStation 5 can play the PlayStation 4 version of The Forest, hence making the cross-generation gameplay possible between PS5 and PS4 players. In simpler words, if you are using PS4 and your friends are using PS5, both of you can play alongside each other on the same server.
Can you Crossplay The Forest Between Android and PC?
The Forest doesn’t natively offer cross-platform play between Android and PC. But with various sorts of Android emulators available on the market, PC players could access the game through Android emulators such as BlueStacks and pair up with a friend.
In case you’re not familiar, BlueStacks is one of the most popular Android emulators available for Windows-based computers. Players can use BlueStacks to access the Android OS on their PC and enjoy all the Android applications natively.
Similarly, BlueStacks can be used by PC players to install the Android version of The Forest and play alongside a friend who is playing the game on an Android-powered device.
When is The Forest 2 Coming (Sons of the Forest)?
The official release date of The Forest 2 is May 20, 2022, and it is said to be released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. Rumors are that The Forest 2 will also be made available on the next-gen consoles, however, it is not yet confirmed by the official authorities. The Forest 2 will be released under the name “Sons of the Forest.”
Moreover, the developers have not commented if The Forest 2 is coming to Android or not. Since the first installment of the game did quite well on the Play Store, one could expect to surprise the players by dropping The Forest 2 on Android-powered devices as well. But, sadly, the developers are yet to announce anything regarding the game’s availability on The Forest 2.
