This won’t be the first time you’ve heard this, but Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally coming out this year. That’s according to both Microsoft and the game’s developer, Team Cherry. And while Microsoft may have given some the impression that Silksong will be landing alongside its branded handheld PC this holiday season, Team Cherry says it will be out even sooner than that.
Earlier this year, images of a new version of the ROG Ally handheld PC with Xbox branding appeared online. Microsoft formally showed off the device in a recent showcase, with a trailer that included clips from various games players can expect to run on it. One of those was Silksong, which Xbox president Sarah Bond said would be available at launch.
But according to Team Cherry, Silksong won’t be launching alongside the ROG Xbox Ally.
“I confirmed BEFORE holiday — we are not tied to a console release,” Matthew Griffin, PR and marketing lead for Team Cherry wrote on Discord.
While that’s still not a solid release date, it’s the clearest indication of one that Silksong has ever gotten. First announced — and even given an E3 demo — in 2019, the sequel to Hollow Knight has become one of the most anticipated indie games ever. In 2022, a different Xbox showcase claimed that Silksong was coming out within 12 months of being shown off there. Then, 11 months later, Griffin announced that not only would the game not make that deadline, but it was being delayed with no new release date in sight.
Since then, Silksong’s release date has become something between an obsession and a joke for fans. Tune in to just about any gaming showcase and you’ll see messages predicting or demanding an appearance from Silksong. Hollow Knight fans have pored over every scrap of evidence for its release, and Inverse and other outlets have rounded up the details again and again to predict when the game might finally see the light of day.
Maybe the most infamous round of Silksong rumors came in January 2025, when Silksong developer William Pellen teased “something big” on social media, and shared an image of a slice of cake. That image turned out to be dated to April 2, 2024, one year before the date of Nintendo’s then-upcoming Switch 2 reveal stream. Fans theorized that this all meant Silksong would be a Switch 2 launch title. In reality, the Switch 2 Direct featured nothing bigger than a bit more footage of the much-anticipated game.
But for all the rumors and speculation, Team Cherry itself has never come out and said a word about Silksong’s release date. That’s probably a wise choice, since after all this time, if Silksong were to be given a release date and then miss it, the mood from fans could easily spill over from the mostly good-natured anticipation that currently defines the wait for the game into hostility. After all these years, Team Cherry would likely not say anything at all unless the developer is extremely confident that it can stick to its word.
Silksong may not be tied to any particular console launch, but new hardware does make this a good time for the game to finally be released. Hollow Knight originally launched on PC and was an immediate success, but its console launch helped make it the sensation it eventually became. On the Nintendo Switch alone, it sold 250,000 copies in its first two weeks, and its popularity there likely has something to do with the Switch’s portability making the game easier to pick up and play in short bursts. The newly revealed ROG Xbox Ally is likely to be a more expensive piece of hardware than most players will be willing to shell out for, but with the Switch 2 and handheld PCs generally becoming more popular, Silksong releasing now could help it win over players who enjoyed the original on the go.
