If you have ever sprinted from a cannibal at dusk while Kelvin obediently hauls logs back to camp, you have experienced the very specific brand of survival horror that Endnight Games Ltd has spent more than a decade refining. The studio behind Sons of the Forest is far smaller and stranger than its blockbuster sales numbers suggest — a tight indie team of ex-visual-effects artists who turned a cult 2014 horror project into one of the best-selling survival games of the 2020s. This guide digs into who Endnight Games actually is, how the studio thinks about AI, horror, and player freedom, and how that design philosophy translates directly into the dedicated servers and config options you wrangle when you host the game yourself.
Who Are the Sons of the Forest Developers?
Sons of the Forest was developed by Endnight Games Ltd and published under the label Newnight — which is Endnight’s own in-house publishing arm rather than a third-party publisher. That self-publishing structure is a big part of the studio’s identity: Endnight controls its own release cadence, marketing, and post-launch roadmap without an external publisher dictating timelines.
Endnight is an independent studio currently based in Vancouver, Canada. It was founded by former visual-effects artists, and it has stayed deliberately small and focused. Rather than chasing genre trends, the team has built its entire reputation on a single niche — immersive, first-person, open-world survival horror — and iterated on it across two major releases.
| Studio Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Endnight Games Ltd |
| Publisher (label) | Newnight (Endnight’s own arm) |
| Location | Vancouver, Canada |
| Studio type | Independent, small team (ex-VFX artists) |
| Known for | The Forest (2018), Sons of the Forest (2024) |
| Genre focus | Open-world survival horror |
From The Forest to Sons of the Forest
Endnight first broke through with The Forest, which reached its full release in 2018 after a long early-access period. It paired open-world crafting and base-building with genuinely unsettling AI cannibals, and it became a word-of-mouth phenomenon among survival and horror fans alike.
The sequel, Sons of the Forest, followed the same playbook. It launched into Early Access on February 23, 2023, spent roughly a year being shaped by player feedback, and then left Early Access for its 1.0 / full release on February 22, 2024. The reception was immediate and enormous: the game reportedly sold around 4 million copies in its first week, cementing Endnight’s status as one of the most commercially successful indie studios in the survival space.
The Endnight Design Philosophy: Horror, Freedom, and AI Companions
What separates Endnight’s games from the crowded survival-craft genre is the studio’s commitment to AI-driven horror. The cannibals and mutants in both titles are not static spawn-camping enemies — they observe, retreat, regroup, and escalate, creating an atmosphere where the island itself feels like it is reacting to you.
In Sons of the Forest, Endnight extended that AI ambition to your companions. Two stand out:
- Kelvin — a friendly survivor who follows simple orders: chopping trees, gathering logs and sticks, fishing, and stocking your base. He is the dependable workhorse of any playthrough.
- Virginia — a three-armed, three-legged mutant who must be earned through trust. Once befriended, she fights alongside you and can wield weapons, becoming a genuine combat asset.
Endnight has publicly framed these companions as central to the game’s identity, and they are one reason multiplayer feels so different on a persistent server: companion behavior, base progress, and the world’s escalating threat all carry forward between sessions when you host your own world.
How the Studio’s Choices Shape Your Server
Endnight’s “small team, big freedom” approach is visible the moment you set up a dedicated server. The game ships with a free standalone dedicated-server tool, no separate license required, and supports up to a hard cap of 8 co-op players — the same ceiling Endnight enforces everywhere in the game.
The dedicated server is installed via SteamCMD using its own App ID, separate from the game itself (1326470 for the game, 2465200 for the server, with anonymous login supported):
app_update 2465200 validateOne quirk that flows directly from Endnight’s development choices: there is no native Linux server binary. Windows is the only native platform. The server executable is SonsOfTheForestDS.exe, launched by the included batch file StartSOTFDedicated.bat. To host on Linux, you force the Windows build in SteamCMD (using +@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows) and run the executable under Wine, often headless via a virtual display. If you want a step-by-step walkthrough, see our full Sons of the Forest dedicated server setup guide.
The dedicatedserver.cfg File
Server behavior is controlled by dedicatedserver.cfg, a JSON file. Here are the verified default contents:
{
"IpAddress": "0.0.0.0",
"GamePort": 8766,
"QueryPort": 27016,
"BlobSyncPort": 9700,
"ServerName": "Sons Of The Forest Server (dedicated)",
"MaxPlayers": 8,
"Password": "",
"LanOnly": false,
"SaveSlot": 1,
"SaveMode": "Continue",
"GameMode": "Normal",
"SaveInterval": 600
}The most-asked field is MaxPlayers, and the answer is firm: it is capped at 8, because 8 is the game’s hard co-op ceiling. You cannot raise it higher through config. The verified GameMode values are Normal, Hard, HardSurvival, Peaceful, Creative, and Custom — note that the hardcore mode value is reported as HardSurvival rather than the literal string “Hardcore,” which is unconfirmed. Setting GameMode to Custom makes the server read the CustomGameModeSettings block.
| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GamePort | 8766 (UDP) | Main game traffic |
| QueryPort | 27016 (UDP) | Server browser query |
| BlobSyncPort | 9700 (UDP) | World/blob sync |
| MaxPlayers | 8 | Hard cap — cannot exceed 8 |
| Password | “” (empty) | Empty = open; up to ~40 chars |
| LanOnly | false | true hides server from internet browser |
If you would rather skip the Wine wrangling and port forwarding entirely, you can spin up a managed instance with our Sons of the Forest hosting plans, which handle the SteamCMD install and config file for you. Detailed config reference also lives in our Sons of the Forest documentation.
The Developer Console: Endnight’s Built-In Sandbox
True to its creative, player-first roots, Endnight left a full developer console in the game. To enable it during active gameplay (not in the inventory, map, pause menu, or any text box), type the word cheatstick — the letters appear in the top-left corner. Each letter must be typed consecutively; a stray key cancels the sequence. Then press F1 to open the console. It is PC only, and non-US keyboard layouts must switch to a US layout for input to register.
A handful of the most useful verified commands:
godmode on/off— immune to all damage.killallenemies— kills every enemy on the map.additem [name or ID]— spawn a specific item;addallitemsgrants everything.buildermode— adds a max amount of nearly every item.aidisable on/off— disables all AI, including companions Kelvin and Virginia.season [summer/autumn/winter/spring]— change the season.save— saves current progress.
For the complete command list and how to use it for moderation and testing on a live server, see our guide on using the developer console.
Is Sons of the Forest Still Being Updated?
Yes. Although the game hit 1.0 in February 2024, Endnight has continued to patch it. A major content patch on January 15, 2025 added buildable rafts, a procedural wall system, improved aiming, and fixed more than 100 bugs, and a October 3, 2025 patch delivered a Unity security update. As of mid-2026, the game is still being actively maintained — there is no Endnight-announced end of support, though the exact current build number is unconfirmed.
What Is Endnight Working On Next?
Endnight is reported to be developing a next survival title, referred to in coverage as “Forest 3.” It is worth stressing that this is reported, not officially confirmed by Endnight — treat it as an informed rumor rather than a settled announcement. Similarly, studio leadership names that circulate (director Anna Terekhova and project director Rod Green) are wiki-sourced and only lightly confirmed. What is clear is that Endnight has shown no signs of leaving the genre it helped define.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who developed Sons of the Forest?
Sons of the Forest was developed by Endnight Games Ltd, an independent studio based in Vancouver, Canada, and published under Endnight’s own label, Newnight.
What other games did Endnight Games make?
Endnight is best known for The Forest (full release 2018) and its sequel Sons of the Forest (1.0 release February 22, 2024). Both are open-world survival horror games built around AI cannibal and mutant enemies.
How many copies did Sons of the Forest sell?
Sons of the Forest reportedly sold around 4 million copies in its first week, making it one of the most successful indie survival launches of recent years.
How many players can a Sons of the Forest server hold?
The co-op cap is 8 players. The MaxPlayers value in dedicatedserver.cfg is hard-capped at 8 and cannot be raised higher. For the full hardware picture, check our Sons of the Forest system requirements breakdown.
Is there a native Linux dedicated server?
No. Windows is the only native platform for the dedicated server. Linux hosting works by forcing the Windows build in SteamCMD and running SonsOfTheForestDS.exe under Wine, typically headless.
Is Endnight making a third Forest game?
It has been reported that Endnight is working on a next survival title sometimes called “Forest 3,” but this is not officially confirmed by the studio and should be treated as a rumor.
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