While Hollow Knight: Silksong didn’t have an exact release date, its appearance at the Xbox & Bethesda showcase in June of 2022—which Xbox made a point of saying was focused on games coming in the following 12 months—led us to expect that it would release by June, 2023. That may no longer be the case.
Matthew Griffin, who does marketing and publishing for Hollow Knight developer Team Cherry, has provided an update about its progress on Twitter. Griffin noted, “We had planned to release in the 1st half of 2023, but development is still continuing. We’re excited by how the game is shaping up, and it’s gotten quite big, so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can.”
Silksong was originally conceived as an expansion for Hollow Knight, but quickly became a full-fledged sequel with a new protagonist, playstyle, and setting. Seems like it’s continued to expand during development, though whether this will result in a significant delay remains to be seen. Griffin simply said, “Expect more details from us once we get closer to release.”
We’re eager to see Silksong because of how beloved the original was. Team Cherry’s 2017 metroidvania was praised for its gorgeous art and the gigantic scope of its Hallownest setting, and Tom Marks gave it a score of 92 in his review of Hollow Knight, saying, “It’s a good thing Hollow Knight’s movement feels so great, because there’s a huge amount of space to traverse. On at least three separate occasions, I said ‘are you kidding me?’ out loud as I stumbled upon yet another unique and detailed area that I had no idea existed. Even after getting a Steam achievement for unlocking all the game’s maps, there were more hidden areas to find, each with its own theme, enemies, and history within Hallownest.”
Back in February, a Silksong playtester encouraged patience, saying that everyone was working hard to get it finished and that “It will come and it is a glorious game worth the wait.”