What a week. I think we all expected Nintendo to blow us away with some great first-party announcements at its Switch 2 Direct, but the third-party stuff really surprised me. The expected ports like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 were there, but a brand new Bloodborne spiritual successor? That appears to be a battle royale game? And is a Switch 2 exclusive? Nobody could have predicted that.
Another major scoop appeared in the middle of a sizzle reel. For no more than two seconds, footage of Hollow Knight: Silksong was blasted into our eyeballs like a space laser trying to melt our brains. And melt our collective brain it did. Not only was Silksong present, which nobody expected, it had a release window. 2025. That magic number. Naturally, the internet took this incredibly normally.
Remember The Last Time A Console Manufacturer Announced The Hollow Knight: Silksong Release Date?
I remember when Xbox so confidently told us that every game in its Valentine’s Day showcase in 2022 would release within the next 12 months. Silksong was there. Silksong did not release within the subsequent 12 months. Nor did it release in the 12 months after that. Nor the 12 months after that.
38 months on from that announcement, and 26 months late per Xbox’s confident release window, we have had another brief taste of Silksong. A few seconds is all it takes to send this community into a rabid frenzy, mouths frothing and fingers burning as they type posts onto social media, convinced that the void they have been so effervescently screaming into has finally echoed one of those screams back to them.
The stream also froze and nearly cut off the very brief Silksong clip. Imagine the outrage if Hollow Knight fans had missed out on these meagre scraps.
Put simply: I don’t believe it. I don’t think that Hollow Knight: Silksong will be released in 2025. I don’t care what Nintendo says. I don’t care if we’ve seen a little clip. I can’t see it happening.
When Will Hollow Knight: Silksong Release?
Nintendo says Hollow Knight: Silksong will release in 2025, but I won’t believe it until I see it. I won’t believe it until we have something more solid than a release window. Truth be told, I’d even be sceptical about any specific date we’re given. Team Cherry could produce its own trailer, complete with imminent release date, and I’d only believe it when Steam starts the download.
Maybe I’m just jaded. I’ve been through this rigmarole too many times now to get my hopes up at every gameplay snippet or date reveal. I can’t help but think that Team Cherry would make a bigger deal out of it if there was any confidence that this release window was realistic. It wouldn’t be two seconds in a sizzle reel, it’d be a Direct all of its own. Now Cyberpunk 2077 and Elden Ring have been released, Silksong is the most highly anticipated game in production. Sure, people are excited about GTA 6, but Silksong is different.
Xbox also listed Silksong as an “upcoming game” alongside other 2025 releases, hidden in a random blog. Hardly a sign of confidence.
Silksong has a dedicated fanbase. A loyal fanbase. GTA 6 is a game for the masses, that everyone with a console will pick up no matter the price because it’s got the prestige of being a Big Game. I’m sure it’ll be fine. But Silksong is a game for the gamers. Your favourite games journalist’s favourite game. It’s a game for those of us passionate about design and mechanics, who look for interesting indie titles to blow cobwebs out of corners of your brain that you forgot existed. Its fanbase represents all of that.
When I say that Silksong is the most anticipated game currently in development, I mean it. FromSoftware fans will look forward to Not Bloodborne, but the developer has the resources to release it on schedule next year. The anticipation will never reach the fervourous pitch of Silksong. This is a feeling that can only be achieved by multi-year delays and an absence of communication. It’s Elden Ring all over again, and we can only hope that Silksong reaches similar heights whenever it finally reveals itself to the masses.
I don’t know when Hollow Knight: Silksong will be released. Nobody does for sure. Nintendo definitely doesn’t. Team Cherry might, but even then I’m not sure. The only thing we can do in the meantime is hope. Hope it releases in 2025. Hope it lives up to mighty expectations. And hope that we’re still around to play it when it finally reaches our screens.
Next
Hollow Knight: Silksong Briefly Vanished From The Nintendo Eshop, And No One Knows Why
For a few hours, Hollow Knight: Silksong wasn’t coming to Nintendo Switch.