When Hollow Knight landed on the scene in early 2017, the game quickly struck a chord with many gamers, proving to be an incredible Metroidvania experience. Filled with great lore and challenging combat, Hollow Knight soon became an indie hit, and since the sequel's announcement, Team Cherry has been working hard in order to meet high expectations.
Hollow Knight: Silksong's Announcement
The impressive success of Hollow Knight was a major win for Team Cherry. The three-person development team pulled off something incredible with their work, and due to this success, the studio quickly announced Silksong on February 14, 2019. Since then, it's been a long road of small updates with long spans of silence from the developer, but this could ultimately be good for the sequel.
Early Development
When development began, Silksong was first intended as a DLC for Hollow Knight. However, after Team Cherry examined the scope of its project, it quickly became apparent that the DLC was too large and ambitious to simply be an expansion. This pushed Team Cherry to take the leap and turn Silksong into a full-blown sequel. The first reveal trailer for Silksong promised over 150 new enemies, fresh boss fights, and new gameplay features, like crafting materials. This announcement trailer was a great first indicator of how ambitious Team Cherry's vision had grown since the release of Hollow Knight, but it was unknown at the time just how sparse future updates would be regarding the game's progress.
First Character Reveals
In March 2019, Team Cherry offered one of the first updates after the game's official announcement. This update revealed a few of the many characters that players could expect to interact with in the game. The preview of Silksong's characters was an exciting update, but the next update wouldn't arrive for months.
Soundtrack Preview
Team Cherry finally provided another update months later, in December 2019. This time, the developer shared a fun preview of the game's soundtrack that was composed by musician Christopher Larkin. Hollow Knight's incredible soundtrack is one of the most underrated features of the game, as it brings everything together. The game is always praised for its art design and challenging gameplay, but the soundtrack is a shining feature that can often be overlooked, and it was great news to see that Christopher Larkin would be returning for Silksong.
Team Cherry's Silent Period
After the preview of Silksong's soundtrack, Team Cherry quickly went silent. In fact, it was over a year until Team Cherry finally provided a new update about the game's development, but it didn't exactly provide much insight. In February 2022, the game's co-director, William Pellen, confirmed that Silksong was still in development. Pellen claimed that future updates and reveals would roll in once the game gets closer to its release date, but major updates still continue to be kept under wraps.
A New Trailer Finally Arrives
A second trailer for Silksong was finally revealed in June 2022 during the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, giving another long-awaited look inside what Team Cherry had been working on for so long in the shadows. This second trailer gave a thrilling preview of protagonist Hornet in some intense boss battles and combat scenarios, while one portion of the trailer even showcased the character trying to escape some terrifying lava, promising Silksong to be a follow-up that gets players' adrenaline pumping. As if all-new footage wasn't exciting enough, the trailer even confirmed that Silksong would be featured as a day one launch game on Xbox Game Pass.
Silksong Misses Its Targeted Release
Although the second trailer for Silksong didn't officially confirm any release date, it was heavily implied by Xbox that the game would be released by June 2023. With Silksong set for a day one Game Pass launch, it was easy to assume that this implication from Xbox was solid evidence that the game was reaching its last stages of development and was nearing completion. However, in May 2023, it was eventually confirmed by Team Cherry's representative, Matthew Griffin, that Silksong would not be meeting its targeted deadline and had sadly been delayed. However, Griffin's statements seemed like a promising sign, as his tweet stated, "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's Future Remains A Mystery
Ever since Team Cherry delayed Silksong's 2023 release, the developer has been more silent than ever, with nothing to go off of beyond a few social media posts confirming that the game is still in development. Although this long development cycle could be a bad omen for the Hollow Knight franchise continuing after Silksong, what's important is that the game is handled with care and isn't rushed. Team Cherry is only a three-person team, and it's hard to imagine what kind of pressure is on the shoulders of these developers, so even though delays are frustrating, it will hopefully ensure the game's quality.
The development of Silksong has become one of the most notorious development stories in gaming in recent years, but the long wait may actually pay off in the long run. It's now been five years since the game was announced, but there have been plenty of other games that were caught in long development cycles that turned out as successes, like Dead Island 2. Despite there not being any indication of a new release window, there will hopefully be an update sometime this year, so it's at least made known by Team Cherry that Silksong's development is still going according to plan. As the development of Silksong continues, it will be exciting to finally get more information once Team Cherry feels that it is ready to reveal what the next chapter of its Hollow Knight universe has in store.
