After years of anticipation, Hollow Knight: Silksong has finally arrived, and its release has already made waves far beyond the Metroidvania community. The long-awaited sequel launched on September 4, 2025, and the initial surge of demand was so overwhelming that major digital storefronts, including Steam, the PlayStation Network, Xbox Store, and Nintendo eShop, all suffered temporary outages.
Journalist Tom Warren of The Verge remarked on social media that “Silksong is hammering the Steam, Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation stores,” highlighting the scale of the launch-day demand. Fellow reporter Jason Schreier also chimed in, joking that “Silksong’s first boss is tricky as hell,” pointing towards the Steam store crashing at launch. For many players, simply downloading the game proved to be the real challenge.
Reports quickly surfaced of users encountering errors when attempting to purchase or download the game, with some unable to complete transactions on Steam. Xbox Game Pass subscribers also faced difficulties, as the game would not load or download properly through the service during the launch window.
Despite the technical hiccups, the excitement translated into immediate success. According to SteamDB, the title amassed over 100,000 active users on Steam alone within hours of release. By comparison, the original Hollow Knight peaked at 70,000 concurrent players, and that milestone only arrived years later after Silksong’s reveal reignited interest.
Developed and published by Team Cherry, Hollow Knight: Silksong places players in control of Hornet, the princess-protector previously introduced in the first game. The sequel expands the formula with enhanced agility, needle-based combat, a quest system, and a vast new world to explore in Pharloom. What originally began as planned downloadable content eventually grew into a full-fledged sequel, reflecting the seven-year development cycle that has fueled much of the anticipation.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Team Cherry developers Ari Gibson and William Pellen stressed that launch day is only the beginning. “Launching it is obviously quite exciting,” said Pellen. Gibson added that the studio already has an ambitious roadmap of post-launch content in the works, from updates to potential expansions.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is now available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2. It is also accessible on day one via Xbox Game Pass, ensuring that even more players can join the frenzy of what may be one of the most significant indie releases of the decade.
