Team Cherry`s highly anticipated sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, is finally set to launch on September 4th. This release comes after years of development and mounting anxiety within the community that the game might never see the light of day. Yet, Silksong is very real, we`ve had the chance to play it, and its impending arrival is so significant that several other game studios have actually postponed their own projects to avoid conflicting release dates. The question then arises: why did Silksong`s development span such a considerable period?
According to Team Cherry founders Ari Gibson and William Pellen, Silksong was never mired in `development hell` or faced severe setbacks. The immense success of their 2017 hit, which sold over 15 million copies, provided the Australian developers with the freedom to craft the follow-up at their own unhurried pace.
“It was never stuck, or anything like that,” Gibson clarified to Bloomberg. “It was always moving forward. It’s simply that we’re a small team, and games naturally require a great deal of time. There wasn’t any major controversial incident behind it.”
Initially, Silksong was conceived as a mere expansion for Hollow Knight. However, the project`s scope grew substantially, transforming it into a full, standalone title, which partly explains its extended development cycle.
Regarding Team Cherry`s prolonged silence and lack of frequent updates to fans, Gibson explained that the team deliberately chose this approach. Their reasoning was that “all we could genuinely tell people was, `We’re still working on it.`”
Pellen further elaborated, stating, “Instead of constantly appearing and bothering people just for the sake of it, we felt our actual responsibility was solely to work on the game.”
While Silksong was once officially targeted for release before June 2023, Pellen admitted the team “genuinely believed” they could hit that deadline. However, this, of course, did not come to pass.
The development period could have stretched even longer. Gibson highlighted Team Cherry’s development methodology, which enables team members to “see results quickly,” with concepts rapidly materializing into playable game elements. While this was an enjoyable way to work, Gibson noted it also brought challenges.
“I recall at one point I simply had to cease sketching,” Gibson recounted. “Because I thought, `Everything I`m drawing here absolutely has to end up in the game. That’s a cool idea, it`s in. That’s a cool idea, it`s in.` You then realize, `If I don’t stop drawing, this is going to take 15 years to complete.`”