Silksong Gets Surprise Release Date Announcement in Latest Nintendo Switch 2 Direct

It's been eight years since Team Cherry basked in the release of their genre-defining Hollow Knight. Becoming a staple of the indie genre, the self-published title accrued a massive 360k reviews on Steam with the highly impressive 97% positive ratings, earning it the prestigious Overwhelmingly Positive Steam score.

Since then, Team Cherry's support and love for the title in the form of free DLC kept the game alive for many: Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood, and Godmaster all added new content without an additional price tag, showing their dedication. And when it came time to put Hollow Knight to rest, the soulslike metroidvania had enjoyed nearly two years of free content support, yet, the team set their sights for more to come.

Hollow Knight: Silksong was the ambitious next move for Team Cherry, announced on the 14th of February 2019, nearly exactly on the release date for the game. Since then, we've learned that it's meant to expand, grow, and be better than their highly successful debut, and fans have been eager to learn more, but it's been six years since we've learned much more... until now.

On the latest Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, Nintendo was showing off their upcoming partners for the console, with big brands like FromSoftware and CAPCOM joining the line-up for Switch 2. Among this highlight reel for some of the partners, we got a three-second look at Hollow Knight: Silksong, with a popup that said "2025".

It isn't a lot, and it also wouldn't be the first time that we receive a "release date" that doesn't get honoured. Back in 2022, Silksong was part of the Xbox Showcase that promised a 12-month release window of the games, but several delays and issues led to many of the titles not meeting this deadline (among them being Team Cherry's own sequel). As a result of this, 2023 didn't have this same caveat.

Due to the showcase, many expected Hollow Knight: Silksong to release sometime in late 2022 or 2023, but no such thing happened and players were left wanting, waiting for more. No further release dates or an amendment was offered, either, which meant that the release date was left in the air once more. The Nintendo Switch 2 showcase could indicate at a 2025 release date window — meaning we'd be seeing it sometime in the next eight months — but due to the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase of 2022, it might not be ironclad until we know more.

The theory of no 2025 release date is also supported by the fact that, at the time of writing, the Hollow Knight: Silksong Steam page still shows "To be announced" as its release date. Until official confirmation from Team Cherry has been given — or a closer release date with an actual date or month — this could all very well be speculatory.