Hollow Knight: Silksong Might Be Closer To Release Than We Thought
If you haven't played Hollow Knight, it is one of the best games you missed in 2017. An excellent example of the Metroidvania genre, the game is brilliantly drawn and animated. The gameplay is also stellar, offering you a completely unrestricted map to explore right from the beginning.
If you have played Hollow Knight and have been looking forward to a sequel, there's good news. Hollow Knight: Silksong may arrive sooner than anyone was expecting.
The gaming world anticipated good news from Hollow Knight developers last month after Edge Magazine referenced an unspecified exclusive reveal. Though the specific franchise was not mentioned, many hoped it would have something to do with Silksong.
More recently, news regarding the sequel was shared on ResetEra in the form of a screen capture from a conversation on the developer Discord. The message came from Leth, a.k.a. Hollow Knight Marketing and PR head Matthew Griffin, who hinted that Silksong is undergoing its final round of testing. Beyond that, he was reluctant to disclose an exact launch date.
According to Griffin, his "own personal philosophy is that you should not announce a release date until you have a build that could be released, and then you're just giving yourself some time to fix additional bugs and market a game." That seems like a sound philosophy and a fair justification. After all, it seems like it would be better to have a surprise release than to have a date that is constantly pushed back.
Gamers have seen a lot of this lately with highly anticipated games. Destiny 2: Beyond Light was delayed, and when it finally came out, players were furious. In addition, Halo Infinite missed the Xbox Series X launch, which may have discouraged some from preordering the system. Of course, no other delay better highlights Griffin's philosophy than the disaster that was the Cyberpunk 2077 launch.
Announcing a release date can pressure developers to rush their products out the door, so it should actually be reassuring to know that Team Cherry isn't setting anything in stone yet. Even so, how much longer will fans have to wait?
It seems as though Griffin is simply being cautious. If the game truly is in its final testing stage, then it's probably that gamers won't have to wait much longer.
Regardless, fans should have peace of mind that Hollow Knight: Silksong won't be rushed out the door. For those who can't wait, there's a Hollow Knight clone from last year called Gleamlight. However, it didn't make the most positive impression.