At this point, I’m starting to think that Team Cherry, developer of Hollow Knight: Silksong, is either completely allergic to building up hype for its game or, alternatively, it may just be in on the joke.
After a set of SteamDB updates had folks excited for a Silksong spotlight during last weekend’s flurry of showcases such as Summer Game Fest, the Xbox Games Showcase, and our own illustrious PC Gaming Show, I’m both sad to report, and completely unsurprised, that no such spotlight shone upon Skong.
Instead of Team Cherry, I don’t know, cobbling together a trailer for their game—which is coming out this year—the largest source of confirmation (skongfirmation, if you will) came from a showcase for the ROG Xbox Ally. No, seriously.
As displayed in the following video, Microsoft, with everything but its tongue in its cheek, shows off its new handheld console thing with Silksong front and centre. New and tantalising footage is comically blurred out as the camera loops around thumbsticks and buttons, or zoomed out while the trailer brags about impulse triggers. So close, yet so far away.
Watch On
You might be wondering ‘well, gee, given this is all we’ve gotten from Silksong, has Team Cherry made an announcement?’ and the answer is ‘kinda’.
Rather than deign to do something as pedestrian, as expected as, say, using Team Cherry’s official X account, we are instead relying on a Discord message by the developer’s head of Marketing and Publishing. Something I’m only even remotely aware of because of the diligent work of Silksong’s eternal vigil-keeper Araraura, who did the developer’s work for them.
“I confirmed BEFORE Holiday—we are not tied to a console release,” Matthew Griffin writes in the midst of fan speculation, later clarifying that means before “Christmas yes”.
So, there you have it. Silksong’s coming out before the holiday season of 2025. The r/Silksong subreddit is both thankful for the drop of water and just as confused as I am that Team Cherry doesn’t… I don’t know, make an announcement or something. Like a videogame development studio might.
“Why is it always Leth just saying these things in live chats and Discords?” writes user K0KA42. “Does Team Cherry know they can make announcements and communicate on their official social media, or show their game off with a release window/date in the gaming events like every other developer?”
“Is this…. Is this communication? Wtf, I don’t know what to do now…. Holy shit,” writes one shellshocked believer, as a voice of reason replies: “Let’s not praise the bare minimum lol.”
Don’t get me wrong—Team Cherry is under no obligation to do things the traditional way. It’s not under an ethical or moral mandate to put out a trailer or whatever, but at the same time… maybe if you want your game to be successful, this isn’t a very good way to make your dreams come true?
It seems especially reckless after the game’s prior, mostly unexplained delays—which have been rolled out with little concrete end in sight. A continued lack of communication (and yes, this is a lack of communication, normal game developers tend to do more than a Discord message once every blue moon) doesn’t give me an easy feeling in my tummy.
Mind, it’s almost a running gag at this point. Silksong has been so feverishly yearned for by its starving fanbase that Team Cherry barely has to lift a finger when it comes to marketing. I just hope playing so stubbornly coy doesn’t cause fans to run out of patience. Six years of anticipation, around six months left until release—let’s just hope the hype train doesn’t crash.
Read the full article here
