Ever since its 2019 announcement,Hollow Knight: Silksonghas found itself in a difficult position betweenHollow Knight’sown success and fan expectations where ordinary development delays have garnered it a notorious reputation in gaming. Most recently, it was pointed out thatSilksonghad gone over 1600 dayssince its announcement which puts it among the company of few other games seemingly stuck in development limbo. But it’s not entirely abnormal, as many successful and fan-favorite games have taken a long time to release, such asFinal Fantasy 15,Team Fortress 2, orThe Last Guardianwhich all took close to a decade to develop.
So it’s unusual thatSilksongwould find itself at the center of constant scrutiny about if and when it will release, especially when the mostrecent updates from Team Cherryseem to indicate that it plans to launchHollow Knight’ssequel in the near future. The reason behind this could be because, unlike most other games,Silksongis being framed in an unfair context due to its pedigree and the current climate around game development. While it may haveHollow Knight’s legacy to live up to,Silksongis still just an indie game that should have the chance to be seen for its own merits.
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Hollow Knight’s Development and Release Set A High Bar
It might be easy to overlook, but it should always be remembered thatHollow Knightbegan life through crowdfunding by an indie developer. Though it’s undeniable that the game’s success proved its backers were right to support it, this isn’t always the case for similar projects as at one point in time onlya third of Kickstarter games fully delivered. WhetherHollow Knightgot lucky or was destined to succeed isn’t important, however, but recognizing that Team Cherry’s debut game came from significantly humble beginnings and beat the odds should inform howSilksong’sown development is viewed.
Additionally,Hollow Knightitself took around three years to be fully developed and released, meaning that the four years of developmentSilksonghas so far taken shouldn’t be surprising or cause for concern. For example, Naughty Dog’sThe Last of Usand its sequel took three and five years respectively to develop, and both saw critical acclaim when they launched. As much as players might be eagerly awaiting a return toHollow Knight’sworld, its success shouldn’t mislead players aboutSilksong’slong and quiet development, especially for an indie game and after Covid-19 delayed the gaming industry at large.
Context is Important When Considering Hollow Knight: Silksong
It’s also important to acknowledge how Team Cherry presented the development ofHollow Knightversus that ofHollow Knight:Silksong, as the inevitable differences between the two could be misguiding players' expectations. Due to its beginnings as a Kickstarter campaign,Hollow Knight’sdevelopment was significantly more transparent than most other games, with Team Cherry’s regular updates reassuring backers that progress was being made and goals met. But asSilksonghas no such criteria or backers to answer to, it’s possible that the frustration of no longer being able to see behind the scenes is aggravating players' responses to the sequel’s delays.
However, even when bearingHollow Knight’sown development and success in mind,Silksonghas other factors to contend with that its predecessor never did. For instance, discourse around lengthy development cycles has resurfaced where players are annoyed with studios taking too long on their games, with the likes of Bethesda and Rockstar as examples. While both sides may have valid points, it does mean that players are more reactive to slow games and delay announcements, and so the high levels of scrutiny and demand from fans are unavoidable even in spite ofSilksong’s release being potentially close at hand.
Hollow Knight: Silksongis in development for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
