“Hollow Knight: Silksong” is the highly anticipated sequel to the indie hit “Hollow Knight.” However, on May 9, 2023, it was announced that the game would be delayed after having a release window of the first half of 2023. Because of  this, many are beginning to wonder what is going on behind the scenes for “Hollow Knight: Silksong,” as updates for the game have been few and far between.

 A good way to start off is comparing the “Hollow Knight: Silksong’s” development cycle to that of “Hollow Knight.” “Hollow Knight” was a kickstarter game that was developed in 2014 and released in 2017. It then received four free updates that added new content and bosses over the course of the next year. 

“Hollow Knight: Silksong” began its development as one of these updates, but Team Cherry realized that it would work better as a flat out sequel. So, one can assume the game began its development in late 2018.

This means that it has been in development for nearly twice as long as “Hollow Knight” while still using the same engine and art style. This is where the concern starts to grow because while COVID-19 may impact the development in some ways, that is still a very long time for a sequel to be developed. 

“Hollow Knight: Silksong” got its first trailer at the beginning of 2019. A couple months later, there was a playable demo for it at events like E3. After that, there was a final blog post on Team Cherry’s website in December of 2019. It was silent throughout 2020 and it wouldn’t be until 2021 that more news would be released about the game through Edge Magazine. 

But once again, there was nothing for about a year until a new trailer was shown at “Xbox’s” games showcase in June 2022. It was here that the release window was given and now the game has been delayed indefinitely. 

So after breaking it down, there are some conclusions that can be made. First, it’s most likely that Team Cherry was originally planning for an earlier release, but decided to take more time and really flesh out the world and mechanics. Second, “Hollow Knight” is a kickstarter game that did force them into having  a deadline. But for “Hollow Knight: Silksong,” that time constraint no longer exists, allowing them to take more time to polish the game. Finally, Team Cherry was most likely pressured by Microsoft into giving that release window as they themselves never confirmed it.

Taking all that into consideration, it’s important to remember that Team Cherry is a small studio, so games as big as “Hollow Knight: Silksong” take a lot of time. It is also important that they aren’t rushed so that they are able to deliver one of the most highly anticipated games in development.