The people yearn for a Hollow Knight sequel, and after quite a stint of extended silence, Team Cherry delivered signs of life early this year during a Nintendo Direct sizzle real. It almost seemed too good to be true for a fanbase counting the days between news updates, but we finally got a promise on the sequel's big day—Silksong would release later in 2025.
And oh boy did Team Cherry ever deliver on that promise. If you're among those who've worked themselves into a frenzy over the status of the metroidvania's development since 2019, then worry no more. The studio hit up this year's Gamescom with a Hornet-focused livestream that gave us plenty to pore over until Hollow Knight: Silksong launches next month.
When will Hollow Knight: Silksong release?
Hollow Knight: Silksong will release on September 4, 2025.
Boy that feels good to type. After six years of pining over Team Cherry's sequel, fans finally got the news that the DLC turned full blown sequel really would for-real land in 2025 via a new trailer dropped on Team Cherry's YouTube channel.
Thanks to last April's Nintendo Direct, we knew Silksong was planned for sometime this year, but after all the anticipation from a 2022 Xbox showcase it seemed hard for Team Cherry's eager fanbase to believe. It was certainly a long wait, but it's nice to hear a team explain their long development cycle was for good reasons rather than anything bad.
"It's nice to make fun things … It was never stuck or anything," Team Cherry's Ari Gibson told Bloomberg. "It was always progressing. It's just the case that we're a small team, and games take a lot of time. There wasn't any big controversial moment behind it."
Hollow Knight: Silksong trailers and gameplay videos
Here's Silksong's release date trailer
Well, this is way more than the blink-and-miss-it teases from showcases past. Team Cherry revealed its latest Silksong trailer during the Gamescom 2025 livestream alongside its release date news, and it's awfully pretty.
Plenty of new details to note in it, too. The new trailer teases over 200 enemies, 40 big ol' bosses, some trinkets for Hornet, and a few peeks at new locations to explore in the sequel's haunted kingdom.
A few seconds of Silksong from the 2025 Nintendo Direct
It's not much, but the release window announcement from April 2025's Nintendo Direct also included a few new seconds of gameplay. Not minutes, seconds. For the starved sequel seekers, it was everything. Behold the crumbs of protagonist Hornet jumping, sliding, and whacking a boss. It held fans over for months until the Gamescom date reveal.
Hollow Knight: Silksong's debut trailer
A bit wild to look back on now, but the debut trailer for Hollow Knight: Silksong still sells it well. The long-awaited sequel accrued millions of views in the wait up to 2025, and the striking Hollow Knight art looked just as gorgeous then as it does now.
Hollow Knight: Silksong gameplay changes
What's different about Hollow Knight: Silksong's gameplay?
Like Hollow Knight, Silksong is a side-scrolling action game, with some easy Dark Souls comparisons in punishing bosses, encounters, and death mechanics. You'll face over 150 different types of enemies and many bosses as you explore Metroidvania-style across a large map.
Silksong revamps Hollow Knight's formula with a suite of new mechanics and changes:
- You play as Hornet instead of The Knight from Hollow Knight. Hornet has a lot more movement abilities like dashing and sprinting, and she can heal faster than The Knight. And she talks!
- Hornet uses silk instead of Souls to heal and use abilities. When you die, you'll drop a bundle of silk and have to destroy it when you return to replenish your supply.
- Hornet uses tools, like bombs and a spiked ball, instead of charms. You can craft tools too.
- The game follows Hornet as she ascends through a new region: the kingdom of Pharloom.
- Silksong introduces two new currencies: Shell Shards and Rosaries. Shell Shards are used to repair and craft tools. Rosaries are used to buy goods. Both are earned from caches and killing enemies, although Rosaries can be lost on death unless you put them on a string.
- Silksong will have a quest system divided into four categories: Gather, Wayfarer, Hunt, and Grand Hunt. You can pick quests up from NPCs and track their progress via notice boards.
Hollow Knight: Silksong's soundtrack brings back the original composer
Christopher Larkin will return as a composer for Hollow Knight: Silksong after working on the original game. Larkin released a couple previews of the game's soundtrack, which are filled with triumphant strings and gloomy piano—a perfect fit for the game's atmosphere.
