If you’ve been following the buzz around the development of Hollow Knight: Silksong, you know all too well that the wait has been anything but easy. This highly anticipated sequel to the original Hollow Knight, which released in 2017, seems to be taking its sweet time, leaving fans in suspense. Even now, we’re still without a release date or fresh gameplay content. Team Cherry, the small team of developers behind the game, has been rather tight-lipped, sharing scant details about their new project. Unsurprisingly, this lack of clear communication has left the Hollow Knight community eagerly yearning for updates over the past few years.
Until recently, the enthusiasm among Hollow Knight fans was beginning to dwindle. Rumors swirled on platforms that Silksong had stumbled into what some call “development hell,” feared to have become another piece of vaporware akin to Ubisoft’s elusive Beyond Good & Evil 2. But then came a breath of fresh air during the latest Nintendo Switch 2 Direct. In a showcase of forthcoming third-party games, Nintendo delighted fans by revealing a snippet of Hollow Knight: Silksong gameplay, coupled with the exciting announcement that it will make its debut in 2025. Naturally, this revelation lit up the internet and sparked much discussion among fans.
### Hollow Knight: Silksong Has Had an Inconsistent Marketing Cycle
As fans of Hollow Knight eagerly dissect every piece of information, the recent excitement over a mere glimpse of gameplay highlights just how erratic and disjointed the marketing strategy for Silksong has been. Rewind a few years, and the irregular flow of updates from Team Cherry becomes clear. The game was first announced for platforms like Windows, Mac, Linux, and Nintendo Switch back on February 14, 2019 — an unforgettable Valentine’s Day surprise. Team Cherry sweetened the announcement with a trailer and a deep dive video on their YouTube channel.
In contrast to the years that followed, 2019 was a whirlwind of Silksong news. Just 33 days after its unveiling, Team Cherry followed up with more information about the game’s characters through a blog post in March. By June, the game made an appearance at a Nintendo Treehouse presentation during E3 2019—one of the last E3s. Here, fans were treated to a deep dive, showcasing the opening cutscene and a first boss fight. To round off the year, another update landed in December spotlighting new enemies and offering fans a taste of the soundtrack.
The schedule of announcements over the years further illustrates the inconsistent rollout:
– February 14, 2019: Hollow Knight: Silksong officially announced (N/A)
– March 19, 2019: Team Cherry update #1 (33 days)
– June 13, 2019: E3 2019 presentation (86 days)
– December 13, 2019: Development update #2 (183 days)
– December 31, 2020: Details in Edge Magazine (384 days)
– June 12, 2022: Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase (528 days)
– September 16, 2022: Confirmed for PlayStation platforms (96 days)
– May 10, 2023: Announcement of further delay (236 days)
– April 2, 2025: Nintendo Switch 2 Direct announcement (693 days)
Despite reassurances from Team Cherry in February 2022 and January 2025 that Silksong was not canned, these lacked substance to quench fan thirst.
### Hollow Knight: Silksong Was Scheduled to Launch in 2023, But It Was Delayed
After the flurry of activity in 2019, Team Cherry fell silent on Silksong for a lengthy period. Apart from some insights offered in Edge Magazine in 2020, not much was revealed until the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2022. Here, fans rejoiced as Team Cherry dropped the game’s second trailer, announcing that it would be available on Xbox platforms and would launch on Xbox Game Pass from day one. The anticipated release was projected for the first half of 2023, a promise that unfortunately went unfulfilled.
With time, official updates dwindled, apart from a brief mention of a PlayStation port in September 2022. It wasn’t until May 10, 2023, that Team Cherry finally communicated that the game’s release would be postponed indefinitely, missing the anticipated 2023 window. Now, with the recent breakthrough at the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct pointing to a 2025 release, fans are hopeful they won’t be in the dark for much longer.
