Hollow Knight: Silksong Release Window, Trailer, And Gameplay - What We Know So Far
There could be many reasons why Australian indie developer Team Cherry won't release "Silksong," the follow-up to its beloved 2017 release, "Hollow Knight." With such a small team working on the game, it's possible that "Silksong" needs more development time, or that the international pandemic has slowed progress. Perhaps the team is taking its time to make "Silksong" even better than its predecessor. After all, "Silksong" evolved from a DLC to a full-blown sequel after Team Cherry realized that there was a bigger story to tell. It would be natural to want to one-up yourself.
Regardless of why "Hollow Knight: Silksong" hasn't released, the anticipation for the title has reached a fever pitch. Each new gaming event invites a wave of tweets yearning for even the smallest bit of news about "Silksong." The 2022 Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase finally gave gamers a morsel of "Silksong" news, and they couldn't be happier. Here's what we know so far about "Hollow Knight: Silksong," including its release window, trailer, and gameplay.
What's the release window for Silksong?
The thing gamers perhaps want to know the most urgently is when "Hollow Knight: Silksong" will release. Until now, that secret has been kept under lock and key. In fact, most news about "Silksong" has been speculative, since Team Cherry's last update was in December 2019. The new trailer shown at the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase also didn't hint at a release date, but Xbox itself might have let a potential release window slip.
After the showcase, the official Xbox Twitter account posted, "Everything you're seeing today is playable over the next 12 months." Fans were immediately intrigued, curious if that timeline also applied to "Silksong." Xbox followed up by writing, "That's exactly what we said." While some gamers claimed that the 12-month window just gives Team Cherry more time to delay, the game never had a release date to begin with. By telling fans that "Silksong" will release sometime over the next year, Xbox gave the first glimpse of when gamers might get their hands on Hornet's adventure. Even more exciting? It's coming to Xbox Game Pass on release day.
Is there a trailer for Silksong?
While "Silksong" had an announcement trailer several years ago, gamers are buzzing about a new trailer, which premiered at the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase. The new trailer is barely over a minute long, but it gave fans an exciting glimpse into what "Silksong" could be like.
The trailer begins with slashes across a dark screen and the unmistakable sound of Hornet's needle cutting the darkness to ribbons. From there, viewers are treated to images of Hornet running and fighting across a variety of new landscapes, while text promises players that they'll be able to "fight for the fate of a haunted land, hunt, survive, vanquish." The trailer also showed off new enemy designs and abilities, though it left the details up for speculation. Overall, it seemed like the more recent trailer set out to highlight some of the exciting new gameplay possibilities, including how action-packed "Silksong" will be.
In contrast, the announcement trailer focused more on the game's story, beginning with Hornet trapped in an ornate cage, escorted by a small crew of bugs. She breaks free, her threads wrapping around the soldiers. Then, the trailer transitions into clips of gameplay, showing off Hornet's needle and thread abilities as she glides through the new world. Both trailers leave a lot to the imagination, but they make it clear that "Silksong" will follow in the footsteps of "Hollow Knight" with fast-paced action and creative, cute enemies.
What will Silksong's gameplay be like?
Gameplay in "Silksong" looks similar to what gamers experienced in "Hollow Knight," with the protagonist Hornet navigating a detailed world and fighting plenty of enemy bugs along the way. That being said, one small change could completely alter the way "Silksong" plays in comparison to its predecessor. Hornet is not the Knight. She wields a needle and thread instead of a nail, and she is able to jump higher, run faster, and use her acrobatic skill to climb onto ledges and hard-to-reach areas. In an interview with Edge magazine, the co-directors of "Silksong" argued that they had to approach the new title differently because Hornet is her own character, with her own unique abilities.
From that same interview with Edge, gamers also know that combat will differ in "Silksong." Hornet uses Soul differently than the Knight, and can stitch her wounds together using the Bind ability, which is much faster than the Knight's healing powers. Additionally, when Hornet dies, she does not leave a shade behind for her reborn self to battle later. Instead, her body remains in a cocoon, which players will have to find in order to restore her to her full abilities and resources.