Team Cherry has revealed that Hollow Knight Silksong will be delayed beyond its initial release window, of the first half of 2023.
On Twitter, Team Cherry’s Marketing and Publishing head, Matthew Griffin, shared this statement:
“Hey gang, just a quick update about Silksong.
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.
Expect more details from us once we get closer to release.”
Hollow Knight Silksong was announced all the way back in 2019, and most recently released a gameplay trailer in 2022. It is the sequel to Hollow Knight, which is a Metroidvania side scroller game, inspired by many other classic side scrollers and Metroidvanias.
While some fans want to believe otherwise, Hollow Knight does not fit the definition of a roguelike. It does not feature a dungeon structure filled with random enemy encounters. There is a set map, though first time players will have to collect in-game items to have a fully featured map to help them find their way.
Subsequently, Hollow Knight is particularly difficult, but it isn’t a Soulslike because of that difficulty. Team Cherry holds its stated inspirations on its sleeve, from Mega Man X, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda II: Link’s Adventure, and the deepest cut of all, Faxanadu.
The eponymous Knight’s combat is actually inspired by Mega Man X and not anything from FromSoftware’s maso-core games.
It can be said that Team Cherry emulated many other elements of FromSoftware’s games, as Hollow Knight uses a similar non-specific medieval theme as is found in their games.
That these memes and tropes exist about Hollow Knight at all point to how the game has become so popular that fans project the ideas that they like they have to the game.
Still, Hollow Knight stands on its own as a notable original game that’s become very successful, to a degree atypical of games of its scale. Even at only one game, the Hollow Knight franchise now has a following like Shovel Knight, Shantae, and Undertale.
Hollow Knight fans are more likely to be forgiving of this new delay for Hollow Knight Silksong, knowing the size of the team and the curse of the sophomore effort. Hopefully Team Cherry can finish with something that can meet or even exceed fan expectations.
Hollow Knight Silksong will be released on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC, via Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store.
