Can I Run Sons of the Forest on My PC / Laptop?

A GTX 1060 3GB or RX 570 4GB graphics card, an i5-8400 or Ryzen 3 3300X processor, and 12GB of RAM, running 64-bit Windows 10 with DirectX 11. That gets you 1080p on low settings around 30 fps.

A GTX 1080 Ti or RX 5700 XT, an i7-8700K or Ryzen 5 3600X, and 16GB of RAM, which targets 1080p on high settings around 60 fps.

Yes, more than its visuals suggest. The dense forest and volumetric lighting look demanding, but the engine scales down cleanly, and the frame rate cost is concentrated in a few specific settings (fog, shadows, foliage density) rather than spread evenly across everything.

It clears the official floor, though 16GB is genuinely the more comfortable number, especially once your base sprawls or you're in a multiplayer session. If you're buying RAM specifically for this game, get 16GB.

No, it isn't required. An SSD shortens load times and helps once you've built a large base with a lot of world data to stream, but a hard drive will run the game fine.

20GB. That's small by current open-world standards, and it hasn't grown much since the 1.0 release in February 2024.

Start with an outdated GPU driver, since that's frequently the cause, then check whether Fog Quality or Shadow Quality got left on Ultra, and confirm you're running Exclusive Fullscreen rather than Borderless or Windowed, which hands the game less direct access to your GPU. Updating drivers, switching the display mode, and dropping fog and shadows clears up most complaints before you need to suspect your hardware.

No, there's no ray tracing option in the settings menu. The lighting is handled without it, which is part of why the game runs reasonably well without a high-end RTX card.

Mostly GPU-bound from rendering the forest, fog, and lighting, though the CPU load rises when you're hosting multiplayer or once your base has a lot of built structures for the game to track.

Fog Quality first, since it's the single heaviest setting, then Shadow Quality, then Foliage Density. Those three account for most of the frame rate difference between Ultra and Low. Turn on DLSS or FSR on Balanced next if your card supports it.

No, the campaign runs fully offline for solo play. You only need to be online to host or join a multiplayer world.

No hard cap. You can set a frame rate limit in the options if you want one, but by default the game will run as high as your hardware allows.

For the host, yes, since the host's machine simulates the world and sends it to everyone else, so a full eight-player lobby costs more than playing solo. For someone joining, your fps depends mainly on your own PC's settings; a slow connection to the host causes rubber-banding and desync, which looks like lag but isn't a graphics problem.

Yes, they're separate games with separate requirement lists. Sons of the Forest asks for more RAM (12GB minimum versus 8GB for the original) and a newer minimum GPU, since it's a bigger, more detailed sequel built on an updated version of the engine.

Good enough to play. The RTX 3050 sits at Sons of the Forest's minimum, so expect 1080p low to medium and a bit of tuning for smoothness. Around 48 fps at 1080p and 32 at 1440p, both at Ultra settings.

Underpowered here. The GTX 1650 sits below Sons of the Forest's minimum, so expect the lowest settings and a frame rate to match.

Yes, though keep expectations modest. The GTX 1060 6GB clears Sons of the Forest's minimum, so plan on 1080p at low to medium and trim a setting or two for a steady frame rate. Roughly 35 to 45 fps at 1080p medium, better if you drop fog and shadows first.

That card falls short. The RX 580 is under Sons of the Forest's minimum, which leaves you very low settings and a shaky frame rate. Similar to the GTX 1060 6GB, around 35 to 45 fps at 1080p medium.

Easily. With the RTX 4060 you are past Sons of the Forest's recommended tier, which means high settings at 1080p and a genuine shot at 1440p. About 76 fps at 1080p and 56 at 1440p at Ultra settings.

The RTX 3060 is a strong fit for Sons of the Forest. It lands at or above the recommended spec, so high 1080p is comfortable and 1440p works. About 65 fps at 1080p and 57 at 1440p, both comfortable at Ultra.

The RTX 2060 is a strong fit for Sons of the Forest. It lands at or above the recommended spec, so high 1080p is comfortable and 1440p works. About 55 fps at 1080p Ultra, and past 120 fps if you switch fog and shadows to Low.

It will run. The GTX 1660 meets Sons of the Forest's minimum, which means 1080p on low to medium and a smoother result once you lower a couple of options.

The GTX 1660 Super gets you in. It meets Sons of the Forest's minimum, so low to medium at 1080p works, and turning a couple of things down keeps it steady.

Yes, at the lower end. With the RX 6600 you clear Sons of the Forest's minimum, so 1080p low to medium is the target and easing back a setting helps.

Yes. Sons of the Forest runs on the GTX 1660 Ti at 1080p low to medium; shave a setting or two and the frame rate settles.

You are well set. The RTX 3060 Ti exceeds Sons of the Forest's recommended card, so 1080p high is easy and 1440p is realistic. Around 81 fps at 1080p and 63 at 1440p at Ultra settings.

The RTX 4050 is a strong fit for Sons of the Forest. It lands at or above the recommended spec, so high 1080p is comfortable and 1440p works.

It is under the bar. The GTX 1050 Ti does not meet Sons of the Forest's minimum, so any play would be very low settings with weak performance.

Yes. The RTX 4070 has headroom over Sons of the Forest's recommended card, so you can push 1080p high and move to 1440p when you want. About 119 fps at 1080p and 95 at 1440p, with 4K holding near 52 fps at Ultra.

Endnight never built a Mac client, so a MacBook has nothing to run locally here. Cloud streaming and Windows virtual layers are the workarounds on Mac hardware, and neither carries official support from the developer.

It can launch and be playable at 720p to 1080p on the lowest settings on a recent chip like Intel Iris Xe or AMD Radeon 780M, but expect choppy frames once foliage density picks up. It's usable in a pinch, not something to plan around.

Yes, though Valve marks it Steam Deck Unsupported rather than Verified. It's Gold rated on ProtonDB and playable at low settings and 720p, around 30 fps with drops in heavy foliage. A ROG Ally or Legion Go handles it a little better at the same settings thanks to a stronger chip.

Yes, an RTX 4070 or better gets you close to 60 fps at 4K on Ultra once you trim volumetric fog a little, and an RTX 4090 has plenty of room to spare.

An RTX 3060 Ti or RTX 4060 Ti is a good target for 1440p on high settings around 60 fps. Weaker cards can still do 1440p by dropping fog and shadows a couple of notches.

At 1080p, an RTX 3060-class card hits 60 fps comfortably on Ultra. At 1440p you want an RTX 3060 Ti or RTX 4060 Ti. Dropping Fog and Shadow Quality lets weaker cards get there too.

You can from around an RTX 2060 or RTX 3050 up for 1080p, but Ultra is where Fog Quality and Shadow Quality cost the most fps. Most players get a better balance of looks and smoothness by keeping everything else on Ultra and dropping just those two.

Yes, comfortably, at any resolution up to 4K. The minimum only asks for 3GB, so this isn't a VRAM-limited game the way some newer titles are.

It does. Sixteen gigabytes is Endnight's recommended figure and it covers both solo play and hosting a multiplayer world without trouble.

A Ryzen 3 3300X clears the official minimum outright. A modern i3 (10th generation or newer) is generally fine too, since the game leans more on the GPU in solo play; hosting multiplayer is where an older or weaker CPU starts to show.

No, 8GB falls short of the 12GB minimum. You'll likely see stuttering, long load times, or crashes to desktop as your base grows and the game runs out of headroom. 16GB is the real comfortable amount if you're upgrading.

The hardware inside a Chromebook simply isn't built to run this locally. Cloud streaming is your one path in, and it only works if whichever service you use happens to carry the title.

No, Sons of the Forest is PC only through Steam. There's no console release, so this page's requirements are the only way to check if you can play it.

No, there's no Switch version and none has been announced. It's a Steam-only PC release.

It isn't listed on GeForce Now at this time. Your best route without a capable PC is a cloud PC rental service that supports arbitrary Steam titles, though performance and availability vary.

At the minimum of a GTX 1060 3GB or RX 570 4GB, an i5-8400, and 12GB of RAM, you can play 1080p on low settings around 30 fps. Below that, an older dual-core CPU or a card under 3GB of VRAM will struggle, and it's worth lowering fog and shadow settings first before giving up on a machine near the minimum.

Endnight ships Windows only, no native Linux build, but Proton carries it well enough to earn a Gold rating on ProtonDB across Steam Deck and Linux distributions. Proton is effectively how Linux players get in.

Missing Visual C++ or DirectX redistributables trip up more launches than anything else, with an outdated GPU driver close behind. Update your graphics driver, run Steam's verify files check, and confirm your card actually clears the 3GB VRAM minimum, since a card below that can fail to start rather than just run slowly.

More than the game's own minimum, since a dedicated server has to simulate the whole world continuously rather than just render your view. Plan for at least the recommended CPU tier and 16GB of RAM if you're running one alongside other tasks on the same machine, and expect the load to climb with more connected players.