Hollow Knight: Silksong — everything we know

Some games are anticipated. Hollow Knight: Silksong is yearned for. Team Cherry's sequel to 2017's beloved Hollow Knight was unveiled in 2019, and in the years since it has gone from "the next great Metroidvania" to a genuine gaming folk tale — the masterpiece that fans keep waiting for, season after season, with only occasional signs of life from its tiny development team.

This article is the hub: a single, careful place that separates what Team Cherry has actually said from what fans are hoping is true. Because with a project this beloved and this private, the gap between confirmed fact and breathless speculation is where almost all the misinformation lives — so we will keep the two firmly apart.

The confirmed facts

Strip away the wishful threads and the meme-driven countdowns, and a clear picture remains. Here is what Team Cherry has itself communicated — through its reveal, its trailers and its official channels — rather than anything sourced from rumour mills.

• Developer: Silksong is made by Team Cherry, the small Australian studio behind the original Hollow Knight.
• It is a true sequel: the game began as downloadable content for Hollow Knight and grew into a standalone sequel.
• Protagonist: you play as Hornet, the swift, needle-wielding character who was an ally and rival in the first game.
• Setting: a brand-new kingdom called Pharloom, distinct from the original's Hallownest.
• Genre: a hand-drawn, side-scrolling Metroidvania in the same lineage as Hollow Knight.
• Platforms: indicated for PC and Nintendo Switch, with Xbox confirmed on Game Pass and a PlayStation release also expected.

Hornet steps into the lead

If you played Hollow Knight, you remember Hornet — the agile, cloak-wearing figure who tested you with her needle and her speed. Silksong promotes her from memorable supporting character to full protagonist, and reframes the whole game around how she moves. Footage shown by Team Cherry leaned into a faster, more acrobatic style than the original's stoic Knight: sprinting, vaulting, and using silk-based abilities alongside her signature needle. The first game was deliberate and weighty; Silksong looks lighter on its feet, by design.

Pharloom: a new kingdom, not a return trip

Rather than send players back to Hallownest, Silksong takes Hornet somewhere new — the kingdom of Pharloom, a haunted, vertical realm she ascends rather than descends. Trailer material showed a world heavy with bell-towers, pilgrims and a more ornate, almost gothic-fairytale visual identity. It is widely understood to be larger and more ambitious in scope than the original, though precise figures about its size and boss count circulating online are estimates, not official numbers.

Trailers & video

The 2019 reveal trailer is still the single best primary source for the game's tone, movement and setting — far more reliable than any second-hand summary or reaction video. Team Cherry has shown additional footage at various showcases since, each time setting off a fresh wave of excitement, and each appearance is worth watching directly rather than through a recap.

Because Team Cherry releases new media on its own quiet schedule and rarely teases ahead of time, the channel above is the place to watch first — anything described elsewhere as "leaked gameplay" should be treated with heavy scepticism.

Screenshots & official media

Official Silksong screenshots and key art live on Team Cherry's own website. We deliberately do not host or embed copyrighted Team Cherry imagery here — the links below take you straight to the genuine, high-resolution sources.

The release window: what we can and cannot say

This is the question everyone asks, and with Silksong it is also the one wrapped in the most legend. The honest answer: there is no hard date you should treat as guaranteed unless it comes straight from Team Cherry. The game was revealed in 2019, an early target window came and went, and since then the studio has largely declined to commit to firm dates, repeating that Silksong will arrive when it is finished.

That long silence is not a scandal — it is the territory. Team Cherry is a famously small studio that expanded Silksong far beyond its original DLC scope, and it has consistently prioritised the finished game over a fixed deadline. Treat any specific "leaked release date" you see on social media or in a countdown thread as unconfirmed until it appears on the official site. Patience, with this one, is the only sensible stance.

Confirmed vs rumored: a quick reference

To keep things honest, here is the line between official fact and popular speculation. The right-hand column is where caution lives — these items are widely discussed but not confirmed by Team Cherry.

What is still just rumour

A great deal of what circulates about Silksong falls outside anything Team Cherry has stated. That does not make it false — some of it may well turn out to be accurate — but it is not confirmed, and it is worth holding lightly:

• The precise size of Pharloom and the total number of areas or bosses. Estimates vary widely between sources.
• Story beats and how Hornet's journey resolves. Most of this traces back to fan theory and unverified leaks.
• Exact release timing. Endless countdowns and "insider" dates have appeared and passed; none is authoritative.
• Post-launch content and any expansions. Strongly speculated by the community, but nothing is announced.

If you want certainty, the rule is simple: if it is not on Team Cherry's official channels, file it under "interesting if true".

Why fans are this desperate for it

Sceptics sometimes ask whether any game can survive this much waiting without collapsing under expectation. The fairer framing is this: the original Hollow Knight was a near-perfect Metroidvania made by a handful of people, with combat, art and atmosphere that punched far above its budget and earned a devoted following. Silksong promises more of exactly that — a faster lead character, a bigger world, and the same hand-crafted intensity — from a team that has already proven it can deliver. The hunger is not blind hype; it is a community that knows precisely how good Team Cherry's work can be, waiting to be let back in.

Frequently asked questions