It has been a hot minute since fans of Hollow Knight have heard new information from Team Cherry regarding the upcoming sequel to the beloved indie Metroidvania game. Now it seems Hollow Knight: Silksong won't be at this year's E3. The game was first revealed back in February 2019, around the time when the original Hollow Knight was confirmed to have sold almost three million copies worldwide, despite its starting budget of fewer than 60 thousand dollars gained thanks to Kickstarter. Unfortunately, players will have to wait longer, even though Team Cherry revealed that the sequel is finished and is being tested for final adjustments.
While the fact that Hollow Knight: Silksong will not be at E3 2021 may be disappointing or frustrating, this is not a new trend when it comes to other anticipated titles. A prime example of this is Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin's EldenRing, which follows in the footsteps of the next Hollow Knight title in how it's going to be absent from E3. Elden Ring hasn't received an update for the past two years since it was first announced. These games are merely the tip of the iceberg, though, and there are many others ending up following the same pattern like Cyberpunk 2077 or The Elder Scrolls 6.
Hollow Knight: Silksong And Elden Ring - Delays
In this specific case, however, Hollow Knight: Silksong is still being developed by a team of three, so fans can be and already have been very forgiving. Many are willing to understand that if the game takes more time to make, then it will be even better and more polished at release. This remains to be seen with time, though, as there is very little information regarding Silksong's actual status at the moment. Again, the comparison to Elden Ring seems to come naturally, given how it too didn't get any update for the past two years after being revealed at E3, all the way back in 2019.
While Hollow Knight: Silksong was confirmed not to show at this year's E3 by Team Cherry's PR Matthew 'Leth' Griffin, the fact that Elden Ring won't be there as well comes from an unconfirmed source, however reliable GameBeat writer Jeff Grubb may otherwise be. It seems likely at this point that From Software's new dark fantasy IP will not have many updates this year, too, which probably makes its debut plausible in 2022 or early 2023. Despite these similarities, Hollow Knight: Silksong and Elden Ring are likely to differ in scope drastically, among many other things as well.
Is the fact that games take longer to release a good thing or a bad thing, though, many may ask. The fact is that the past few years were marked by exceptional releases and collective dissatisfaction alike, based on how well the newly launched games kept promises they made, and how players adjusted to change. There have been delayed releases and rocky launches, sometimes even both, and that has made players more cautious, in a way.
Some simply don't believe much in the pre-order system anymore, while others take it as a good sign that new titles take a bit more time to come, as long as they are being delayed to have smoother a launch experience. There is a good chance that Team Cherry is trying to play it safe with Silksong so as to not disappoint Hollow Knight fans after the extraordinary success and support that the original game enjoyed, and this potentially bodes well for its release.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for PC and Switch.
