''Hollow Knight: Silksong'' is an upcoming

Metroidvania Metroidvania is a sub-genre of action-adventure games and/or platformers focused on Nonlinear gameplay, nonlinear exploration and guided progression with a need to acquire key items to enter certain areas. The term is a blend word, partial blend ...

video game developed and published by Australian independent developer Team Cherry scheduled to be released sometime before 25 December 2025. The sequel to 2017's ''

Hollow Knight ''Hollow Knight'' is a 2017 Metroidvania video game developed and published by Australian Indie game, independent developer Team Cherry. The player controls an nameless insectoid warrior exploring Hallownest, a fallen kingdom plagued by a super ...

'', it will be released on

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, and

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. ''Silksong'' follows Hornet, the former princess of ''Hollow Knight''s fallen kingdom of Hallownest and a supporting character of that game, as she is forced to explore a new land. It includes expanded gameplay based on Hornet's combat skills, a larger game world, and a

quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. It serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of every nat ...

system. Originally conceived as

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, the scope of the project grew enough that Team Cherry announced in February 2019 that it would become a standalone sequel.

Gameplay

''Hollow Knight: Silksong'' gameplay is set to be similar to its predecessor ''

'', featuring 2D platforming and combat, though unlike the first game, the player controls Hornet instead of the Knight. Some changes are made from the original, such as the player character moving with a more acrobatic flair or applying instant self-healing. Side-quests will be part of the game, and include a journal to keep track of them. This includes a quest system divided into four categories titled Gather, Wayfarer, Hunt, and Grand Hunt, which are provided by the

non-player character A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...

s or by quest boards. Team Cherry stated ''Silksong'' to be very large, featuring at least 165 new enemies and over 100 different checkpoints ("benches") throughout the game world, compared to 51 in ''Hollow Knight''.

Premise

Hornet is captured and taken to the unknown kingdom of Pharloom, which is said to be "haunted by Silk and Song", and must climb to the top to reach a shining citadel, while learning ancient secrets tied to her nature and past.

Development

''Hollow Knight: Silksong'' was originally planned as

for ''

''. Eventually, due to the increased scope of the project, Team Cherry decided to expand it into a full sequel. ''Silksong'' was announced on 14 February 2019 in a trailer and with a developer diary video sharing more information. Since the announcement, per ''GameSpot'', "updates have been sporadic and infrequent". The developers released an update in March 2019, sharing descriptions and images of characters who will appear in ''Silksong''. They thanked the game's fans for supporting them regarding the announcement of the sequel. ''Silksong'' was playable during E3 2019, at the Nintendo booth. A Nintendo Treehouse livestream showed off the game. Team Cherry released a blog post after E3 finished. In December 2019, Team Cherry released a preview of the soundtrack, composed by Christopher Larkin, as well as an update on the total number of enemies developed (which was 165 at the time), with a focus on a trio, described as "members of a scholarly suite." In June 2020, Team Cherry began a series of riddles that revealed non-player characters and short videos of ''Silksong'' once solved. In December 2020, an issue of ''

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'' revealed details about ''Silksong'', with multiple screenshots and quotes from Team Cherry co-directors Ari Gibson and William Pellen. An article in ''PC Gamer'' from February 2022 showcased Pellen stating that ''Silksong'' was still in development despite the lack of updates since December 2020, and said that more details would be revealed as it got closer to its release. A new trailer was revealed at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase in June 2022, revealing that ''Silksong'' would be released on

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at launch, with the game being available through the service for PC and Xbox Series X/S. While no release date was announced, the

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account stated in a tweet that all games in the showcase will be released within twelve months, implying they expected a release by 12 June 2023. In September 2022,

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confirmed in a separate tweet that the game would come to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Team Cherry marketing and publishing director Matthew Griffin declared on 10 May 2023 that the game was delayed, stating "We had planned to release in the first half of 2023, but development is still continuing." On 14 February 2024, which marked five years since the game's announcement, Griffin posted on

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that Team Cherry was "...still hard at work on the game." After nearly a year of silence, in January 2025, in response to rumors online, Griffin said that ''Silksong'' was still in active development, and was still planned for release. During the

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on the new

system, which aired on 2 April 2025, ''Silksong'' was presented in a

sizzle reel A showreel (also known as a demo reel, sizzle reel, or work reel) is a short video showcasing a person's previous work used by people involved in filmmaking and other media, including actors, animators, lighting designers, editors, video games an ...

for a 2025 release date. Soon after, Nintendo sent out new screenshots of the game to press. On 1 May, ''

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'' announced that ''Silksong'' would appear at ACMI's upcoming Game Worlds showcase, which will open on September 18. The exhibit was confirmed to include sprites from the game, information on boss fights, and the ability to play ''Silksong''. They also shared a partial spritesheet of Hornet. On 8 June, ''Silksong'' appeared at the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase, as part of the trailer for the

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. It was confirmed to be available on the console day one; the console is planned to release in Holiday 2025. Soon after this announcement, Griffin clarified that the game will release before

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2025, and that it is "...not tied to a console release."

Reception

In May 2022, ''Hollow Knight: Silksong'' won a "Most Anticipated Game" award from

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. In response, Team Cherry thanked the community for their support and said "It can't be too much longer, surely!" ''Silksong'' won the same award again in 2024, this time without any official acknowledgment.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Video games, Australia Upcoming video games scheduled for 2025 Fantasy video games Indie games Windows games Linux games MacOS games Platformers Nintendo Switch games Nintendo Switch 2 games Xbox One games Xbox Series X and Series S games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 5 games Single-player video games Team Cherry games Video games about insects Video games developed in Australia Video games featuring female protagonists Video games scored by Christopher Larkin (composer) Video game sequels