One of 2023’s most hotly-anticipated indie games, Hollow Knight: Silksong, has suffered another delay due to its increased size and scope.
Hollow Knight was one of those early Nintendo Switch titles that set the tone for just how important the ever-growing indie games scene would be to the future success of Nintendo’s console. Sure, the likes of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey released to acclaim, but it was the likes of Team Cherry’s game that proved smaller experiences could be equally as crucial to the Nintendo Switch’s identity. Hence why it’s sequel has been of great interest to people, but it looks like they’ll need to wait a little longer.
Matthew Griffin, marketing and publishing executive for developer Team Cherry, took to Twitter to inform players of the news in a post earlier today. “We had planned to release in the 1st half of 2023, but development is still continuing,” it read. “We want to take the time to make the game as good as we can,” he went on to say, citing an increase in the sequel’s original scope as being the main cause. It seems like players should expect Hollow Knight: Silksong to be a bigger game than initially planned.
Griffin made no mention of a revised launch date for the game, but did ask players to “expect more details from us once we get closer to release”.
The first half of 2023 release window came as a result of Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase in summer of last year, in which it committed to a generous list of titles releasing between June, 2022 and June, 2023. Already Xbox has failed on this promise with forthcoming first-party titles like Starfield and Forza Motorsport slipping into the back half of this year. Although not an exclusive, immediately after the showcase a fan on Twitter asked if Hollow Knight: Silksong was included in Microsoft’s ambitious plan, which they confirmed. Alas, this is no longer the case.
The long song
The first Hollow Knight is arguably a masterpiece, so I’m more than happy with Team Cherry taking the time to ensure that the sequel is just as good as the original, if not better. Players have been patiently waiting ever since Hollow Knight: Silksong was initially revealed in 2019, however, so I understand if some people’s patience is wearing a little thin.
Griffin negates to mention whether or not the latter half of 2023 is still on the table with regards to a release date. That said, he doesn’t outright say that this isn’t the case either. 2023 is already stacked to the rafters with the likes of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and the aforementioned Starfield still to come, so I don’t think it’d be the worst thing in the world if Hollow Knight: Silksong ended up slipping into 2024.
