In case you hadn’t heard the many summon circle participants crying out in joy that their prayers had finally been answered, or the klaxons sounding far and wide, let me tell you the good news – Silksong has a release date!
The much anticipated Hollow Knight follow up is set to release across Switch consoles, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, including on Xbox Game Pass in just two weeks time, on 4th September.
On the ground here at Gamescom, applause could be heard as the date was announced, so of course I headed out into the fray to get some first hand reactions from those waiting in line for the Silksong demo. What I got was a mix of relief, giddy anticipation and, for one person, a little bit of stress.
First up, there was the lovely young gentleman who had somehow missed the news until I asked his thoughts about Silksong’s release date.
“Wait, what?! It’s coming out? Okay, I am pretty freaking excited. This is crazy, because everybody was waiting for it, and now it’s so soon! Two weeks? Ahhh, I am very happy,” he beamed. “I played the first Hollow Knight a few years back, and it was the first metroidvania I played, and it made me fall in love with the genre, and since then I have played many more metroidvanias and it’s all because of Hollow Knight. I loved it – I hope this is going to be even better!
“You’ve just made my day.”
“I am quite surprised it is so soon,” another Gamescom attendee told me. “I’ve been waiting just as impatiently as everyone else.”
“I played the original in 2017, and since then – I’ve been waiting!!” another added. “It’s two weeks, that’s wild!! When [Team Cherry] said it’s this year, I thought maybe at Christmas, but… two weeks!”
“I am sooo, so so so surprised it is coming out so soon,” I was again told. “Ahh, I can’t wait!!”
A very eloquent chap of 12 years old told me he had been waiting for this moment for four years. “I loved the first one,” he said. “It’s super nice.” He will “definitely” be getting Silksong day one, he informed me, with this being the game he is most excited about.
Another chap waiting in the queue for Silksong’s demo told me that while he was both “surprised” and “excited”, but also already feeling pretty stressed about managing to play all the games he wants to. “It’s coming out right between Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and before Silent Hill f. I want to play all of those games! But, I will play Silksong day one,” he laughed.
“I have been waiting for years [he gestured to his shirt which shows Hornet looking back at me]. It’s absolutely great news, I have been waiting for so long.”
Are you just as excited as this lot?
Elsewhere in Silksong news, it has not, in fact, taken so long to release due to being stuck in development hell. Rather, hype skyrocketed sales of the original game to give Team Cherry financial freedom.
Our Dom also braved the Gamescom queues to go hands-on with Silksong, and came away impressed with its high challenge and how Hornet’s movement differs from the original game’s Knight. You can check out their thoughts in Eurogamer’s Silksong preview here.