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Hollow Knight: Silksong

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Hollow Knight: Silksong
Developer(s)Team Cherry
Publisher(s)Team Cherry
Designer(s)
Programmer(s)
  • William Pellen
  • Jack Vine
Artist(s)Ari Gibson
Composer(s)Christopher Larkin
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release2025
Genre(s)Metroidvania
Mode(s)Single-player

Hollow Knight: Silksong is an upcoming Metroidvania video game developed and published by Australian independent developer Team Cherry. It is scheduled for release by 24 December 2025.[1] The sequel to 2017's Hollow Knight, it will be released on Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.[2]

Silksong is set to follow Hornet, the former princess of Hollow Knight's fallen kingdom of Hallownest and a supporting character of that game, as she is forced to explore the new land of Pharloom. It includes expanded gameplay based on Hornet's combat skills, a larger game world, and a quest system. Originally conceived as downloadable content, the scope of the project grew enough that Team Cherry announced in February 2019 that it would become a standalone sequel.[3]

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot showcasing Hornet traversing the Moss Grotto, the game's first area.

Hollow Knight: Silksong's gameplay is set to be similar to its predecessor Hollow Knight, featuring 2D platforming and combat. Some changes are made from the original, such as Hornet moving with a more acrobatic flair compared to Hollow Knight's protagonist, and that healing is nearly instant. Side-quests will be part of the game, and include a journal to keep track of them.[4] This includes a quest system divided into four categories titled Gather, Wayfarer, Hunt, and Grand Hunt, which are provided by the non-player characters or by quest boards.[5] Two new currencies will be introduced: Shell Shards and Rosaries. Rosaries are planned to act similarly to Geo from Hollow Knight, with them mainly being collected after defeating enemies, and with them being lost upon death. However, if they are put on a string, they will not be lost. The game will also feature "crests" and "tools", the latter of which are confirmed to be craftable, and require Shell Shards to repair.[5]

Team Cherry has stated that Silksong will be very large, with it featuring at least 165 new enemies and over 100 different "benches" throughout the game world, compared to 51 in Hollow Knight,[6] and with one of its areas, "Greymoor", being one of the biggest the team has ever created.[7]

Premise

The former Princess of Hallownest, Hornet, is captured and inexplicably brought to the Kingdom of Pharloom, a kingdom described as being "haunted by silk and song". Hornet then takes on a deadly pilgrimage and begins to ascend to its peak, and discovers ancient secrets tied to her nature and past along the way.[5][8][9]

Development

Hollow Knight: Silksong was originally planned as downloadable content for Hollow Knight. Eventually, due to the increased scope of the project, Team Cherry decided to expand it into a full sequel. Silksong was announced on 14 February 2019 in a trailer, with a developer diary video sharing more information.[3] Since the announcement, per GameSpot, "updates have been sporadic and infrequent".[10] The developers released an update in March 2019, sharing descriptions and images of characters who will appear in Silksong. They thanked the game's fans for supporting them regarding the announcement of the sequel.[11] Silksong was playable during E3 2019, at the Nintendo booth,[12] and a Nintendo Treehouse livestream additionally showed off the game.[13] Team Cherry released a new blog post soon after this, which mentioned that the area "Greymoor" is one of the biggest they've ever created; the post also explained further gameplay details.[7] In December 2019, Team Cherry released a preview of the soundtrack, composed by Christopher Larkin, as well as an update on the total number of enemies developed (which was 165 at the time), with a focus on a trio, described as "members of a scholarly suite."[14]

In June 2020, Team Cherry began a series of riddles that revealed non-player characters and short videos of Silksong once solved; these riddles continued into July. One of the characters revealed was "Seth", who was created by a ill fan of the same name, who wished to meet Team Cherry.[15] In December 2020, an issue of Edge revealed details about Silksong, with multiple screenshots and quotes from Team Cherry co-directors Ari Gibson and William Pellen.[16]

An article in PC Gamer from February 2022 showcased Pellen stating that Silksong was still in development despite the lack of updates since December 2020, and said that more details would be revealed as it got closer to its release.[17] A new trailer was revealed at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase in June 2022, revealing that Silksong would be released on Xbox Game Pass at launch, with the game being available through the service for PC and Xbox Series X/S.[18] While no release date was announced, the Xbox Twitter account stated in a tweet that all games in the showcase will be released within twelve months, implying they expected a release by 12 June 2023.[19] In September 2022, Sony confirmed in a separate tweet that the game would come to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.[20] Team Cherry marketing and publishing director Matthew Griffin declared on 10 May 2023 that the game was delayed, stating "We had planned to release in the first half of 2023, but development is still continuing."[21]

On 14 February 2024, which marked five years since the game's announcement,[22] Griffin posted on Discord that Team Cherry was "...still hard at work on the game."[23] After nearly a year of silence, in January 2025, in response to rumors online,[24] Griffin said that Silksong was still in active development, and was still planned for release.[25][26]

During the Nintendo Direct on the new Nintendo Switch 2 system, which aired on 2 April 2025, Silksong was presented in a sizzle reel for a 2025 release date.[27] Soon after, Nintendo sent out new screenshots of the game to press.[28] On 1 May, IGN announced that Silksong would appear at ACMI's upcoming Game Worlds showcase, which will open on September 18. The exhibit was confirmed to include sprites from the game, information on boss fights, and the ability to play Silksong. They also shared a partial spritesheet of Hornet.[29] On 8 June, Silksong appeared at the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase, as part of the trailer for the ROG Xbox Ally. It was confirmed to be available on the console day one; the console is planned to release in Holiday 2025.[8] Soon after this announcement, Griffin clarified that the game would release before Christmas 2025, and that it is "...not tied to a console release."[1] On 30 June, ACMI posted an Instagram story that revealed new sprites of Silksong, alongside development sketches.[30] On 3 July, ACMI announced a 65-page Silksong zine that will be available once Game Worlds opens.[31] On 28 July, a new Silksong demo was announced to be playable at the Xbox booth during Gamescom 2025, which starts on 20 August.[32]

Reception

Pre-release

The playable Silksong demo at E3 2019 received critical praise. IGN writer Tom Marks liked "its combat and movement even more than the original", and said "Silksong has the potential to be even better than the original."[33] Ozzie Mejia of Shacknews praised the "tremendous amount of detail in the environments and in the backgrounds".[12] Writing for Game Informer, Matt Miller prematurely called Silksong a "worthy sequel", stating "the portion of Hornet's adventure on display maintains the tradition of excellence established by the original."[34] Nintendo World Report writer Melanie Zawodniak praised the speed in which Hornet could traverse vertically, as she believed such movement was "a bit too sluggish in Hollow Knight." Despite the short play-time, the demo made her certain that "Team Cherry [is] putting just as much of their skill and passion into the project as [in] their debut title".[35]

In May 2022, Hollow Knight: Silksong won a "Most Anticipated Game" award from Unity. In response, Team Cherry thanked the community for their support and said "It can't be too much longer, surely!"[10][36][37]

Fan culture

Starting on 16 January 2021, the YouTube fan channel Daily Silksong News began tracking and reporting updates on the game's status every day, leading to over 1600 uploads; most of which have stated "there has been no news to report for Silksong today." The channel's host, Araraura, was interviewed by PC Gamer writer Harvey Randall.[38]

Due to the game's long development cycle, users on the Silksong subreddit began creating elaborate fake posts, known as "Silkposts", to trick readers into thinking there has been Silksong news. This has become a viral phenomenon in the subreddit.[39] In July 2025, the subreddit "sacrificed" (banned) four users in order to "secure Silksong's release"; which received coverage due to its absurdity.[40]

References

  1. ^ a b Lewis, Catherine (8 June 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong is releasing "before" the holiday season, Team Cherry says, and isn't "tied to a console release" like the Xbox ROG Ally". GamesRadar+. Future US, Inc. Archived from the original on 9 June 2025. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Games". Team Cherry. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b Stark, Chelsea (14 February 2019). "Hollow Knight developers announce a full sequel, Silksong". Polygon. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  4. ^ Cryer, Hirun; Wald, Heather; Loveridge, Sam; West, Josh (10 May 2023). "Hollow Knight Silksong: Everything We Know So Far". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Colp, Tyler (10 May 2023). "Hollow Knight: Silksong—Everything We Know About the Upcoming Sequel". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  6. ^ Howard, Stephen (6 January 2025). "One Change To Hollow Knight: Silksong Could Remove One Of The Original's Best Aspects". Screen Rant. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  7. ^ a b Hadzic, Nedim (25 June 2019). "Team Cherry post Hollow Knight: Silksong dev update and E3 demo". AltChar. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  8. ^ a b McWhertor, Michael (8 June 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong comes out of hiding, with a 2025 release date promise". Polygon. Archived from the original on 8 June 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  9. ^ Sickr (14 February 2019). "Hollow Knight Sequel Silksong Announced For Nintendo Switch". My Nintendo News. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  10. ^ a b Watts, Steve (11 May 2022). "Everyone's Disappointed Hollow Knight: Silksong And Sports Story Weren't At Nintendo Indie World". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  11. ^ Craddock, Ryan (19 March 2019). "Team Cherry Provides Hollow Knight: Silksong Update, New Characters Revealed". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  12. ^ a b Mejia, Ozzie (15 June 2019). "Hollow Knight: Silksong - Hands-on preview from E3 2019". Shacknews. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  13. ^ Lada, Jenni (13 June 2019). "Hollow Knight Silksong Map System Confirmed At E3 2019". Siliconera. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  14. ^ Winslow, Jeremy (13 December 2019). "Hollow Knight: Silksong Gets More Enemies In Brief Developer Update". GameSpot. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  15. ^ Watts, Rachel (8 July 2020). "Hollow Knight: Silksong riddles reveal 4 new NPCs". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  16. ^ Bolding, Jonathan (31 December 2020). "Fresh Hollow Knight: Silksong details come out of Edge". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  17. ^ Colp, Tyler (10 February 2022). "Hollow Knight: Silksong—Everything we know about the upcoming sequel". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  18. ^ Fenlon, Wes (12 June 2022). "Hollow Knight: Silksong finally gets a new trailer". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  19. ^ Peters, Jay (12 June 2022). "Hollow Knight: Silksong is coming to Xbox, and it will be out within the next year". The Verge. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  20. ^ Peters, Jay (16 September 2022). "Hollow Knight: Silksong is coming to PlayStation, too". The Verge. Archived from the original on 16 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  21. ^ Howard, Jessica (10 May 2023). "Hollow Knight: Silksong Has Been Delayed". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  22. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (14 February 2025). "5 Years After It Was Announced, Hollow Knight: Silksong Is Still One of the Most Anticipated Games Around". IGN. Archived from the original on 3 June 2025. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  23. ^ Cryer, Hirun (14 February 2024). "Five years after it was announced, Hollow Knight: Silksong devs assure rabid fans they are "still hard at work on the game"". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 20 March 2025. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  24. ^ Philips, Tom (17 January 2025). "Silksong fans believe creator's Switch 2 tease points to April game announcement - and it's all thanks to a slice of cake". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 29 April 2025. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
  25. ^ Nightingale, Ed (20 January 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong is 'real, progressing and will release', says Team Cherry". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 5 February 2025. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  26. ^ van der Velde, Issy (19 January 2025). "The Hollow Knight: Silksong ARG turned out to be us clutching at straws, but dev says: "the game is real, progressing and will release"". gamesradar. Archived from the original on 22 February 2025. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  27. ^ Peters, Jay (2 April 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong is launching in 2025". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2 April 2025. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  28. ^ Norman, Jim (2 April 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong Will Launch On Switch 2 In 2025". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  29. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (1 May 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong will be playable in September 2025 — at an Australian museum". IGN. Archived from the original on 1 May 2025. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
  30. ^ Woods, Sam (30 June 2025). "A New Social Media Post Has Just Got The Hollow Knight: Silksong Fandom All Worked Up Again". TheGamer. Archived from the original on 30 June 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  31. ^ Williams, Leah J. (4 July 2025). "Tickets for ACMI's Game Worlds exhibit are now on sale". ScreenHub. Archived from the original on 4 July 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  32. ^ Phillips, Tom (28 July 2025). "Xbox Has a New Hollow Knight: Silksong Demo Playable at Gamescom". IGN. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  33. ^ Marks, Tom (13 June 2019). "Hollow Knight: Silksong Feels Wildly Different and Incredibly Familiar - E3 2019". IGN. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  34. ^ Miller, Matt (12 June 2019). "Hollow Knight: Silksong – Weaving Together A Worthy Sequel". Game Informer. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  35. ^ Zawodniak, Melanie (11 June 2019). "Hollow Knight: Silksong (Switch) Preview". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  36. ^ Al Salman, Hasan; Rose, Michael; Aguzzi, Sabrina (27 April 2022). "Unity Awards 2021". Unity Blog. Unity Technologies. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  37. ^ Bailey, Dustin (12 May 2022). "Hollow Knight: Silksong skips another indie showcase, but devs tease 'it can't be too much longer, surely'". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  38. ^ Randall, Harvey (20 January 2025). "1,465 consecutive days of (mostly) no Silksong news: I spoke to the Sisyphean internet hero that's kept folks informed, every 24 hours, for 4 whole years". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 9 June 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  39. ^ Multiple Sources:
  40. ^ Randall, Harvey (4 July 2025). "The Silksong subreddit is conducting elaborate ritual ban sacrifices in an attempt to cure 'silksanity' and secure the game's release". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 7 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
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