Team Cherry is not opposed to the idea of a Hollow Knight: Silksong follow-up but says it wouldn’t treat such a hypothetical project as a true sequel. That’s according to two studio leads who briefly discussed the prospects of another Hollow Knight game in a recent interview reflecting on Silksong‘s success.
Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s long-awaited September 4 release made history by crashing multiple major storefronts. The game is estimated to have reached over 5 million players in under a week. While its inclusion as a day-one Xbox Game Pass title undoubtedly boosted launch momentum, more than half of its early adopters (~3 million) are estimated to have purchased it on Steam.
Team Cherry Reveals Why it Took 7 Years to Develop Hollow Knight Silksong
The studio behind the highly anticipated sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong sheds some light on the game’s notoriously long development process.
If Hollow Knight 3 Happens, It Won’t Be Silksong 2
Team Cherry has reflected on Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s massive success in a recent interview with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, found in the paperback edition of ACMI’s official guide for the hit game. Co-directors Ari Gibson and William Pellen said they were satisfied with how the metroidvania turned out, asserting it had achieved the “goal” of being “the best version” of their initial concept. On the subject of making a third Hollow Knight game, the developers were non-committal, but while still sharing one notable detail. “If there were ever others, we would hope that they all follow that same pattern—that the series is all games that just exist alongside one another,” Gibson said, effectively dismissing the possibility of Silksong 2.
Silksong started as a Hollow Knight DLC promised in late 2014 as part of the original game’s Kickstarter campaign, tied to its AUD$56,000 stretch goal. However, by the time its official title was revealed in early 2019, Team Cherry had already opted to develop a standalone game only loosely connected to the original. Now that the concept has resulted in another major success, the Adelaide-based studio has strong reason to be confident in its sequel philosophy. However, whether this actually translates into a third Hollow Knight game in the foreseeable future is unclear.
Silksong DLC Is Likely Coming Before Any New Team Cherry Game
The first entry in the series received extensive post-launch support, and—as things currently stand—its follow-up seems to be following the same trajectory. Team Cherry has already committed to making Silksong DLC, hinting that its support for the game could span years.
If there were ever others, we would hope that they all follow that same pattern—that the series is all games that just exist alongside one another.
Based on the Australian developer’s track record, the announcement of its next game project is likely years away. The success of Hollow Knight already allowed the three-person studio to take its time with Silksong (a delay so long it gave rise to the “Silksanity” meme among fans losing their patience), and Team Cherry’s latest hit has only reinforced that financial stability and the creative freedom that comes with it.
