It finally happened. The release date for Hollow Knight: Silksong has been revealed.
First announced in 2019, the game has been the subject of numerous jokes. But you already know that story. What I’d like to discuss is something a bit deeper.
With Hollow Knight, Team Cherry was afforded a luxury most devs don’t get
Shortly after the reveal, Jason Schreier reported on the long development time for the sequel. And it came down to one straightforward thing. Team Cherry just wanted to make an excellent game and could afford to take their time.
“The lengthy production wasn’t the result of development challenges or obstacles, they said. They just needed all these years to ensure that Silksong was exactly the game they wanted to make.”
This, of course, was helped by the fact that the first Hollow Knight did insane numbers for an indie title. In the piece, Schreier mentions that the first game has sold 15 million copies to this point. And when your game does figures like that, you keep the money rolling in enough to develop the next game for as long as you want.
And that makes me happy for Team Cherry. Not every developer gets to take their time and do what they want truly.
But here’s my favorite part of that report:
“During the development of Hollow Knight, Gibson and Pellen frequently posted game updates and talked to players. At the end of 2019, Team Cherry posted one more update about Silksong, then went silent — much to fans’ dismay. ‘We felt like continued updates were just going to sour people on the whole thing,’ Gibson said. ‘Because all we could really say is, ‘We’re still working on it.’”
Now I’ll admit there’s a bit of selfishness on my part in really liking that. Why? Well, let’s ask Will Smith:
Because man, the jokes were one thing. However, the impatience about a game we all knew was coming sometimes bordered on the weird. I said it back in December:
“How much can you possibly know about a game in development that will ease the wait? Any trickle of information would just exacerbate the wait and make every day feel like a Monday at work…Team Cherry could pop out once a year and say, “It’s still coming,” and I’d be fine with that. I don’t need a trailer or a breakdown of the development progress. I like the radio silence.“
Yeah, I’m going to pat myself on the back for that one. But for real, we made it. Two weeks out from the release of what’s sure to be another classic indie game. Don’t judge Hollow Knight: Silksong by the wait. That’s over with. Enjoy the ride.
Anything else and you’re doing a disservice to Team Cherry, and most importantly, yourself.
The post It’s Finally Happening. Hollow Knight: Silksong Has a Release Date. appeared first on VICE.
