Team Cherry, the studio behind the 2017 hit Hollow Knight, struck gold with its stylized Metroidvania title. With such success, the indie darling has spawned a highly anticipated sequel with Hollow Knight: Silksong, but the future of Team Cherry and its plans for any potential games following Silksong remains a mystery. Although it could be a while until the studio chooses its next project, Team Cherry has the opportunity to follow in FromSoftware's footsteps when it comes to future titles being developed.
Following the announcement of Team Cherry pushing back the release date of Silksong, many who are eager for the game's release may not even be thinking about what the studio could develop after Hollow Knight's sequel. However, with such high expectations being put on Silksong, if the sequel is received just as well as Hollow Knight, Team Cherry will find itself at a fork in the road when it comes to deciding what to do with a third title. With Silksong being a massive anticipated indie release, whatever the studio chooses as its third game may have even higher expectations put on it, and this is where Team Cherry would greatly benefit from taking notes from FromSoftware moving forward.
How Team Cherry Could Follow FromSoftware After Hollow Knight: Silksong
When it comes to games, FromSoftware found its niche with the success of Demon's Souls, bringing forth the genesis of the Soulslike genre. From there, FromSoftware has expanded upon its success with Demon's Souls by creating highly similar successors with Dark Souls, or implementing the same gameplay mechanics and challenging combat with newer IPs, like Bloodborne and Elden Ring. Team Cherry could use this same method to build upon its current success as a way to grow the studio even larger while maintaining the traits that made many fans fall in love with Hollow Knight in the first place.
Although a third entry into the Hollow Knight series after Hollow Knight: Silksong could definitely be a possibility, Team Cherry may choose to create a new title that takes place in a completely different world with all new lore and characters. If Team Cherry chooses to introduce gamers to a completely new game, the studio should at least stick to the formula that made it so successful. Keeping the same structure, graphics, and gameplay but within a different world would still keep future games true to what had drawn fans in with Hollow Knight. Whether a gamer was brought in by Hollow Knight's art style or they were intrigued by the gameplay, it would be very risky for Team Cherry to stray from a path that has already proven wildly successful.
Once FromSoftware saw how so many gamers loved specific aspects of Demon's Souls, the studio chose to polish those features and mechanics with each new title it released. If Team Cherry follows this same path, it could strike a proper balance between new and old content. Team Cherry is making a smart decision by having its second release be a sequel to Hollow Knight, but when it comes to potential new IP, it may be tempted to shake things up.
There's no doubt that Team Cherry is filled with talented developers, and it's exciting to imagine where the studio can go from here. With the hopes that Hollow Knight: Silksong is a successful sequel, the studio will have a lot of power to decide where it chooses to venture in the future. Whether the studio creates an entirely new game or develops a third entry into the Hollow Knight series, sticking with what has already been proven to be a hit will help the studio remain a success.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
