Over 4 years have passed since Team Cherry announced Hollow Knight: Silksong, the sequel to its 2017 hit Metroidvania, and there is still no official word on when it will release. Hollow Knight: Silksong was supposed to release in the first half of 2023 but has since been pushed back, leading many fans to wonder when it will even come out.
Hype for Silksong has been building for such a long period that there is a possibility of excitement for other promising indie game projects falling to the wayside as all eyes appear to be on Team Cherry to deliver a game as excellent as the original Hollow Knight. The developer's secrecy over the project is also likely not helping keep the hype quelled as more fans become inspired to speculate about many of the unannounced details.
When Will Hollow Knight: Silksong Come Out?
With the delay of Hollow Knight: Silksong leading to more questions about its release, there is a distinct possibility it could still come out in the second half of 2023, but realistically it will likely come out in 2024. Team Cherry has not confirmed a new release date, meaning that any guesses are purely speculative based on what is known about the game. Since Hollow Knight: Silksong had been shown off at the Xbox Games Showcase in 2022, a presentation meant to show off titles releasing within a year, intentions for the first half of 2023 were made clear as it hints towards development being nearly complete.
That may or may not be the case, as Team Cherry's Marketing and PR Lead Matthew Griffin, stated in a development update the reasons for Hollow Knight: Silksong being delayed past its original launch window have to do with its scope being quite large and the developers wanting to take the time to make the best game possible. The timing of his statements also implies that nothing more will be learned about Silksong at this year's Xbox Games Showcase or during Summer Game Fest, as the only specification made is that more details will come out when the game is closer to release. This is disappointing news to many wanting something more concrete, but others have taken the announcement positively as it shows the developers care about releasing a polished product.
There is still a level of anxiousness within the Hollow Knight community over the length of time that has passed since the announcement, and incidents such as Hollow Knight: Silksong's website domain expiring have added fuel to a running joke over the game not coming out or not even being real. While those statements are hyperbolic, the general lack of concrete details specified over 4 years likely has made some question if the joke has some level of truth to it.
Griffith does specify that Team Cherry is still hard at work over Hollow Knight: Silksong, but the vague statement that more details will only come when the game is closer to release does imply that a late 2023 release might be wishful thinking, and more grounded guesses would place it at some point in 2024. An early 2024 release might be possible, but the safest expectations are to have it in the latter half of next year. This does assume Hollow Knight: Silksong's scale has been solidified. It's an unlikely possibility since the game is already a massive undertaking for an indie team.
Whenever Hollow Knight: Silksong does come out, many signs point toward it being a great successor to the original game. The team will no doubt double down on elements that made Hollow Knight a fantastic game, meaning the excitement for its sequel is understandable. What is guaranteed is that fans still have a long wait ahead of them.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
