The Forest series just took an unexpected left turn. At The Game Awards 2025, Endnight Games pulled the curtain back on Forest 3 — and instead of another island-plane-crash setup, we get a starship cockpit and a very alien crash site.
A familiar formula... in a very different setting
The reveal trailer opens in first person with the hum of a spacecraft and a robotic shoulder arm that already feels like a character. There are tiny, humanizing touches (the protagonist grabbing what looks like futuristic cereal) before the ship misfires and hurtles the player far, far from Earth. The rest of the trailer leans into the things fans know and expect: scavenging, hunting, basecrafting, and grotesque body horror. But it wraps them in a new coat of paint — grey‑blue swamps and alien flora that call to mind Death Stranding in mood if not in mechanics.
You also get flashes that will linger: a zombified half‑torso retreating from water, facehugger‑adjacent critters lunging at the camera, and a new pistol that fires a plasma‑like projectile. The mounted robotic arm from the opening sequence is present in gameplay snippets, used to grab objects and small creatures and also to scan the environment. It looks like Endnight wants to preserve the tactile survival loop of The Forest and Sons of the Forest while letting players play with tech that feels futuristic and dangerous.
Why this matters for the series
Endnight has always been strongest at atmosphere and body horror. Moving the franchise off Earth — or at least off the familiar island setting — is a bold experiment, and one that could refresh the formula rather than dilute it. The promise of new mutant designs, alien ecosystems, and tech such as a built‑in arm and plasma weaponry opens up gameplay possibilities: environmental puzzles, alien predators with different behaviors, and a fresh twist on resource scarcity.
For lore hounds, the shift raises questions. Sons of the Forest left threads and mysteries unresolved; Forest 3 might pick those up and expand the series' mythology into cosmic territory, or it could be more of a spiritual sequel that keeps themes intact while resetting the stage. Either way, the trailer suggests Endnight is comfortable evolving the franchise instead of retreading the same island.
What we still do not know
Platforms, a release date, and whether Forest 3 will follow the early access path of its predecessors remain unannounced. Given Endnight's history, PC — and a Steam launch — seems likely, which will have fans wondering about portability and how the game will run on handhelds like the Steam Deck. If you follow PC platform developments, the Steam Deck's recent low‑power download mode shows how hardware makers are still ironing out user‑friendly features that matter for big PC releases and early access titles read more about that Steam Deck update.
Also, the Game Awards stage is always crowded with sci‑fi reveals; Forest 3's trailer was one of several space‑tinged world premieres that night, sitting alongside other big reveals that have pushed genre boundaries recently. If you enjoyed the broader sci‑fi showcase, the mood of The Game Awards this year felt very much in step with Endnight's gamble see another recent sci‑fi reveal from the show.
What fans can realistically expect next
Trailers are teasers, not rulebooks, but several safe bets emerge:
- Endnight will keep survival fundamentals: building, hunting, and environmental threat management. Expect familiar mechanics with new tools.
- The game will lean harder into alien creature design and body horror, given the trailer's focus on grotesque mutations.
- There's a decent chance of an early access rollout on PC before any console plans are announced. Console owners have reason to hope for a release on platforms such as PlayStation, where speculation about next‑gen hardware persists; conversations around console support will probably include models like the PS5 Pro as people ask whether the game will land on high‑end consoles as well (PS5 Pro)[https://amzn.to/48BLvuO].
Forest 3 feels like a creative reset rather than a betrayal of what made the series popular. The shell of survival horror remains, but the interior is spiced with sci‑fi: robotics, plasma guns, and alien ecology. That blend could either rejuvenate Endnight's signature tension or risk stretching the series' identity too far — and that tension is part of why this reveal is exciting.
Endnight has not released further details yet. For now, the trailer is a delicious tease: a familiar voice singing in a new register. The real test will come when we get hands‑on time, see how basebuilding adapts to alien resources, and learn whether the series' uncanny knack for intimate, creepy encounters survives in an interstellar gutter.