It’s grow to be the new regular, sadly, to attend years for a comply with-as much as our favourite video games. Whereas the realities of recent sport improvement imply studios are working more durable than ever to fulfill ever-increased requirements, that hasn’t stopped tasks like Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6, Valve’s Half-Life 3, and particularly Group Cherry’s Silksong from changing into the unwitting faces of the trade’s lengthening timelines. That final one is shocking as a result of when it was first introduced, it didn’t appear to be the sequel to Hollow Knight was all that far-off.
Months changed into years, and till very lately, it felt like we have been no nearer to Silksong than we have been in 2019, again once we performed a arms-on demo of the mystical sequel. In the years since, Silksong has achieved meme standing, the place followers don clown make-up and wigs after every new Nintendo Direct or Xbox Developer Showcase fails to convey them nearer to the promised sequel. How did we get right here? And simply how a lot nearer are we to the fabled Silksong launch?
Silksong Was Initially Speculated to Be DLC
Australian-based mostly studio Group Cherry first launched Hollow Knight on Kickstarter again in 2014, hoping to safe sufficient funding to show its 2D Soulslike+Metroidvania fusion sport jam prototype into a full-fledged sport. After assembly its preliminary funding goal, Group Cherry revealed extra stretch targets that promised new quests, bosses, and, finally, a second playable character named Hornet. These funding targets have been met, and so improvement started on increasing Hollow Knight.
As promised, Hollow Knight’s 2017 launch was adopted by a sequence of DLC drops. The Hidden Desires, The Grimm Troupe, and Gods and Glory added new boss fights, quest strains, quick journey mechanics, and extra to the base sport. However what about the second playable character? The place was Hornet?
Then, on February 14, 2019, Hollow Knight: Silksong was formally introduced. In a weblog submit and developer diary, Group Cherry defined how plans for Hornet had rapidly developed. Initially, the builders debated whether or not so as to add her as a second protagonist that gamers might swap to throughout the fundamental marketing campaign or to make her the star of a standalone chapter. Ultimately, the concepts for Hornet grew so massive that Group Cherry determined to spin the DLC off into a full sequel.
The plan was now to inform a model new Hornet-targeted story in a completely new kingdom. She would have a very totally different playstyle – way more nimble and acrobatic than The Knight, who’s slower and heavier in comparability. She would wish all her velocity and dexterity when going up in opposition to Silksong’s over 150 new enemies and executives.
Followers of Hollow Knight rejoiced, and Group Cherry capitalized on the pleasure for Silksong rapidly…
We Even Performed It
Although Group Cherry by no means introduced a launch date, none of us anticipated Silksong’s unveiling can be the begin of a six-yr-plus wait to get to the sequel. The similar yr as the announcement, Group Cherry was all-in on selling Silksong, revealing a forged of NPC characters by way of an anniversary blog post in March 2019, earlier than showcasing a playable demo at E3 2019.
Not solely did we at IGN see the demo ourselves at E3 that yr, however our very personal Tom Marks performed it. In his preview, he wrote, “Hollow Knight is one in every of my favourite video games ever, however I feel Silksong has the potential to be even higher.”
The demo was roughly 20 minutes lengthy and passed off in a new, fiery space stuffed with a number of new enemies and two boss fights. I caught up with Marks for this story to ask him if, at the time, the Silksong demo appeared like a sport that will be prepared in a few years, or if it felt removed from completed.
“It didn’t really feel six years away,” Marks tells me. “You [could] inform it wasn’t the last model, however based mostly on the vertical slice I performed, it felt actually polished.”
This demo would later be taken to PAX Australia 2019 and shared with attendees there as nicely. Typically when a sport exhibits up with a playable construct at a number of occasions, issues are closing in on the end line, and so we have been all fully unaware of the actuality that awaited.
As the publicity marketing campaign progressed into 2020, Group Cherry advertising and marketing and publishing lead Matthew “Leth” Griffin started revealing new NPCs on the official Hollow Knight Discord server as a reward for followers fixing a number of riddles. And in that December, there was a full-on cover story in Edge Magazine issue #354 with new particulars, screenshots, and an enlightening interview with Group Cherry co-administrators Ari Gibson and William Pellen that mentioned deeper, extra intricate ranges and supplied a glimpse into Hornet’s mysterious story.
Silksong Goes Into Hiding
The frenzy of Silksong information in the instant aftermath of the sequel’s announcement would quickly give technique to a lengthy winter. Group Cherry went radio silent all through 2021, and followers spent the yr ready for any signal of a launch date. A 2020-2021 launch window was anticipated, due to a few unintended messaging blips that despatched the rumor mill turning.
In September 2019, as an example, the official Silksong Steam web page was out of the blue up to date with a June 12, 2020, launch date. Later, Group Cherry would verify it was simply an unintended placeholder date. Simply a couple of months later, on August 20, the Silksong emblem appeared in an official Nintendo UK tweet that learn, “Take a take a look at some upcoming video games headed to Nintendo Swap this yr and past.” It wasn’t instantly clear that Silksong belonged firmly in the “past” class – we’d but to be taught that anticipating it anytime quickly was folly.
“Completely not, you clown,” the universe responds.
“Every part Proven Right this moment Will Be Playable in the Subsequent 12 Months”
It wouldn’t be till virtually one other two years had handed that we might see Silksong once more. On June 12, 2022, Xbox aired its annual summer season Video games Showcase, which premiered, amongst different issues, a model new, minute-lengthy trailer for Silksong. However whereas it revealed new gameplay, areas, and executives, the trailer didn’t embody a launch date. It did, nevertheless, announce that Silksong will probably be playable day one on Xbox Game Go.
This might need been sufficient for followers if it weren’t for an unlucky comply with-up message from Xbox.
After the showcase, the official Xbox Twitter account posted, “Every part you’re seeing immediately is playable over the subsequent 12 months.” Given Silksong was one in every of the video games current in the showcase, this was rightfully taken as a launch window for the sport.
“So that you’re telling me SIlksong is out inside the subsequent 12 months?” requested one person on Twitter. “That’s exactly what we said,” Xbox answered.
Oh boy.
That is precisely what we mentioned.
— Xbox (@Xbox) June 12, 2022
Silksong Will get an Official Delay, With out Ever Getting a Launch Date
To be truthful, it did appear to be Group Cherry’s plan was to launch Silksong inside 12 months of the Xbox Video games Showcase. This a lot was confirmed by Team Cherry’s Matthew Griffin, who shared on Twitter in Could 2023 that Silksong was deliberate to be launched in the “1st half of 2023.”
Nonetheless, Griffin added that sadly, “improvement remains to be persevering with. We’re excited by how the sport is shaping up, and it’s gotten fairly massive, so we wish to take the time to make the sport pretty much as good as we are able to. Anticipate extra particulars from us as soon as we get nearer to launch.”
So, with out ever asserting a launch date, Silksong acquired an official delay from Group Cherry.
Hey gang, simply a fast replace about Silksong.
We had deliberate to launch in the 1st half of 2023, however improvement remains to be persevering with. We’re excited by how the sport is shaping up, and it is gotten fairly massive, so we wish to take the time to make the sport pretty much as good as we are able to.
Anticipate…
— Matthew Griffin (@griffinmatta) May 10, 2023
Silksong Turns into a Meme
In the years since Silksong was first introduced, a lot has modified in the video games trade. The COVID-19 pandemic meant that in-individual occasions have been quickly paused, with some occasions like E3 now seemingly gone for good. Rather than these conventional occasions, numerous digital showcases from the likes of Geoff Keighley, Xbox, PlayStation, and even yours really right here at IGN, in addition to numerous others, have been created to fill the void of E3.
This meant there have been now dozens of potential new showcases the place Group Cherry might share extra details about Silksong. Each new indie sport showcase, Nintendo Direct, or any variety of different exhibits had the potential to disclose a new Silksong trailer, ideally one with a launch date. And with every new showcase that did not ship the items, followers started to deal with Silksong’s absence as a working joke.
Anybody who follows the video games trade on social media will seemingly acknowledge the hottest Silksong meme: Anytime a firm posts about an upcoming sport showcase, there will probably be at the very least one image of the Knight from Hollow Knight or Hornet from Silksong in a clown wig and make-up, indicating that the poster is able to really feel like a idiot when Silksong inevitably fails to look.
Fan art of the Knight or Hornet in clown regalia is now ubiquitous. It signifies the folly of eager to be taught extra about Silksong. The rainbow-coloured wig and clown nostril have grow to be the unofficial uniform for Silksong fans after years of struggling. “Will there be Silksong at the new Nintendo Associate Direct?” followers dare to ask. “Completely not, you clown,” the universe responds.
And simply to show the universe can also be in on the joke, the first time Silksong acquired an official itemizing on the Xbox retailer was on April 1, 2024. April Idiot’s Day.
Mild at the Finish of the Tunnel
Group Cherry confirmed a number of instances all through 2024 that Silksong wouldn’t be showing at any of that yr’s largest exhibits. It was not current in any of 2024’s E3-alternative Summer season Showcases, and Geoff Keighley confirmed that Silksong would not seem as a part of Opening Night time Stay at Gamescom 2024. Group Cherry additionally skipped again-to-again Nintendo Directs that yr, each the August 2024 Indie Direct and the Third-Celebration Associate Direct.
Nonetheless, 2025 has been a totally different story. The yr started with a fan posting on the official Hollow Knight subreddit that they bumped into Silksong co-director Ari Gibson. In response to the fan, Gibson joked about there not being a sequel but, however that there can be extra to share “soon.”
That was no bluff. On March 19, 2025, Xbox printed a new ID@Xbox blog highlighting its ongoing commitments to launch nice indie video games, together with Silksong. And a few weeks later, throughout the April 2 Nintendo Direct, Silksong re-emerged in the present’s sizzle reel with a 2025 launch window.
Silksong made one other look throughout the announcement for the upcoming ROG Ally X handheld, the place the sport was seen briefly working on the Xbox-branded machine. Group Cherry’s Matthew Griffin later confirmed in the official Hollow Knight Discord server that Silksong’s launch is not tied to any specific console and the sequel remains to be slated to be launched “earlier than vacation [2025].” And now we all know that Silksong will probably be playable at the Xbox sales space at Gamescom. This will probably be the first playable demo for the sport since 2019.
Whereas Silksong was a no-present at the most up-to-date Nintendo Associate Direct — cue the clown memes — it does really feel like we’re lastly going to get the elusive Silksong, six lengthy, painful years after it was introduced that the DLC character, Hornet, will probably be starring in her personal sport. Possibly we are able to begin eradicating the clown make-up from our faces as soon as and for all.
Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Options Editor.