Why Team Cherry Won't Release Hollow Knight: Silksong

In 2017, Team Cherry released "Hollow Knight," a Metroidvania, souls-inspired 2D action game that starred a little bug man. "Hollow Knight" quickly became an indie darling, achieving a 90 on Metacritic while capturing the hearts of whoever played it. "Hollow Knight" amassed a big fan base, between its grueling combat and cute aesthetic. In early 2019, Team Cherry announced its plans to make a sequel to the game starring Hornet called "Hollow Knight: Silksong." The game had a playable demo at multiple events during 2019 and seemed like it could be ready to go anytime.

In December 2019, Team Cherry made a post stating the team was taking off for the holidays. Normally, this type of blog post wouldn't mean much, but it's the last blog post that Team Cherry posted on its website. Since the end of 2019, Team Cherry has been almost completely silent. So what exactly is going on with "Hollow Knight: Silksong?" Well, without official confirmation from Team Cherry it's hard to know for sure, but here are a few possibilities.

There are plenty of awesome games made by just a few people. "Hollow Knight" is one of those games, and "Hollow Knight: Silksong" is likely to join that list, whenever it releases. At the bottom of the "Hollow Knight: Silksong" website, the three members of Team Cherry are listed, along with a short bio for each of them. Even as gamers demand more information about "Silksong" with the coming of every new Nintendo Direct or IndieWorld showcase, it's important to remember that the game is being made by just three people. 

"We're a team of 3 people who, alongside making the game, are responsible for building these websites, cutting those game trailers, posting regular game updates, answering questions on social media and much more," the Team Cherry bio reads.

The expectations for "Hollow Knight: Silksong" are astronomical, and the amount of work needed to be put in to reach that bar is also high, so it's understandable that it might take a long time to complete "Hollow Knight: Silksong."

One of the reasons that fans are worried about not seeing "Hollow Knight: Silksong" featured at big events is that Team Cherry doesn't post updates often, perhaps because that's time that could be spent making the game. This has turned part of the "Hollow Knight" community a bit desperate, looking for any bit of information they can find. Two months ago there was a post that got popular on the "Hollow Knight" subreddit because the voice actor for Hornet confirmed she had done her work for the game. Even though the voice actor noted that only her part of the game was finished, fans began speculating if her words meant the game was quickly on its way.

After the most recent Nintendo IndieWorld Showcase, some fans have begun to question if the game is even real. "Do I even believe in silksong anymore?" they asked themselves. "No silksong . Who could have imagined such a thing," another wrote. These fans just want to know what's going on with the sequel to one of their favorite games of all time. While Team Cherry likely doesn't want to announce a release date until it's sure it can hit it, there was recently a small bit of info to give fans hope. In April, the Unity awards named "Hollow Knight: Silksong" most anticipated game, with Team Cherry writing a short acceptance blurb for the post. "We're looking forward to the day we can share the game with you all. It can't be too much longer, surely!" Perhaps "Hollow Knight: Silksong" is closer than we think.