HOLLOW KNIGHT: SILKSONG

Hollow Knight: Silksong is the sequel to Team Cherry's 2017 metroidvania Hollow Knight, one of the most acclaimed indie games of its generation. Originally announced in 2019, Silksong spent years in development after growing from a planned DLC pack into a full standalone sequel, becoming one of the most anticipated indie releases in recent memory before finally launching on September 4, 2025.

The game follows Hornet, a supporting character from the original Hollow Knight, after she is captured and taken to the unfamiliar kingdom of Pharloom. Players navigate a large, interconnected map filled with platforming challenges, over 200 enemies and bosses, and the tools and abilities Hornet gathers along the way, in the same 2D hand-drawn style that defined the first game.

Launch Reception and Player Numbers

Silksong's launch was massive enough to cause temporary outages on Steam, the Nintendo eShop, the Microsoft Store, and the PlayStation Store. Within the first three days, the game drew more than five million players across platforms, including a million via Xbox Game Pass and three million on Steam alone. On Steam, it holds a Very Positive rating from over 140,000 user reviews, with roughly 93% positive.

Difficulty and Design

Silksong leans further into acrobatic, fast-paced platforming than the original Hollow Knight, with Hornet's moveset built around swift, aggressive combat rather than the slower, heavier feel of the first game's protagonist. Team Cherry has been open about the game's difficulty being intentional, and post-launch patches have focused on rebalancing specific boss fights based on player feedback rather than softening the game's overall challenge.

What's Next: Sea of Sorrow

Team Cherry announced the game's first piece of DLC, Sea of Sorrow, in December 2025 via an animated teaser. It's a free update scheduled for release sometime in 2026, adding new areas, bosses, tools, and a storyline described as Hornet's "voyage across and beneath the salt-stricken seas." No firm release date has been confirmed as of this writing.

Silksong doesn't soften Hollow Knight's difficulty, it just gives you faster, more acrobatic tools to meet it with.

Whether you're a returning Hollow Knight player or new to the series, Silksong is a substantial, self-contained experience that doesn't strictly require having finished the original first, though familiarity with its world and tone will help.