After years of fervent anticipation and speculation, Team Cherry has finally announced that their highly-anticipated game, Hollow Knight: Silksong, will be released on September 4, 2025. The news was accompanied by a new trailer and an interview with the developers, shedding light on the game’s unusually long development cycle.
According to a report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the game’s lengthy seven-year production was not due to development hell or significant internal conflict. Instead, co-founders Ari Gibson and William Pellen stated that the small size of the team and their passion for adding new ideas continually expanded the game’s scope. “It was never stuck or anything. It was always progressing. It’s just the case that we’re a small team, and games take a lot of time,” Gibson told Bloomberg.
The developers said they were enjoying the creative process so much that they continuously added new features, bosses, and areas, which contributed to the extended timeline. The success of the first Hollow Knight game, which has sold nearly 15 million copies, provided the studio with the financial stability to take their time and ensure the sequel met their creative standards without external pressure.
In a separate announcement, Team Cherry confirmed that Hollow Knight: Silksong will be available on multiple platforms, including PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, and will be a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass. The studio also stated that they do not plan to send out early review codes, a decision they say is to ensure fairness to fans, particularly Kickstarter backers, who have waited years for the game.