Sons of the Forest black screen on launch – how to fix?

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Now that Sons of the Forest is here, recent issues surrounding the black screen on launch may be preventing people from playing the game. Let’s go over how to fix this issue.

Sons of the Forest is an open-world survival game that allows players to join their friends in the apocalypse. It is the highly anticipated sequel to The Forest, which released in 2014, though a few issues related to crashing, stuttering, and frame drops have slowed the game down a bit.

However, the game is still in early access, and we’re anticipating this for the next six months, at the very least. In light of that, we can expect this period to contain all of the bugs and glitches now, so that when the game is officially launched, it’s smooth sailing into the apocalypse for everyone involved.

Let’s get straight into the Sons of the Forest black screen fix.

How to fix Sons of the Forest black screen on launch?

Here’s how we would go about fixing the Sons of the Forest black screen on launch issue:

Disable full-screen optimisations

  • Head to the game’s root folder
  • Right click Sons of the Forest.exe
  • Click Properties
  • Head over to Compatibility
  • Disable Enable Fullscreen Optimisations
  • Click Apply then OK

Read More: Can Sons of the Forest run on Mac? No, at least not yet…

Other fixes for Sons of the Forest black screen issue

  • Let the game run for a while to allow shaders to load correctly
  • Restart your PC
  • Restart Steam
  • Restart Sons of the Forest
  • Update your graphics card drivers
  • Allocate more RAM to Sons of the Forest
  • Disable GPU overclocking
  • Clear shader cache

Why is Sons of the Forest showing a black screen on launch?

This issue could be occurring due to an issue with the game’s full-screen mode. Often a common problem with PC games is that they do not show the correct visuals when in full-screen mode, though in windowed modes they function perfectly fine.

Read More: Does Sons of the Forest have dedicated servers?

We’re going to be keeping an eye out for the latest updates on Sons of the Forest issues that might be preventing people from enjoying the game. In light of that, we’d recommend you check back in with us periodically for the latest updates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sons of the Forest black screen issue caused by my graphics card?

It’s highly possible that your GPU is responsible for the black screen issue. If it is, we’d recommend taking a look at the best graphics settings for Sons of the Forest so you can optimise your game for your hardware.

Is Sons of the Forest black screen issue permanent?

It doesn’t have to be a permanent issue, and can likely be solved by tinkering with hardware and software.

About the Author

Amaar Chowdhury

Amaar is a gaming journalist with an interest in covering the industry's corporations. Aside from that, he has a hankering interest in retro games that few people care about anymore.

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