Earlier in the year, it felt likeHollow Knight: Silksonghad been forgotten, a collective dream from the many fans of the original hoping to get their hands on a playable Hornet as she grappled her way across Pharloom with her spider-silk threads. That was until the Nintendo Direct for the Switch 2, which had many major announcements, from the shocking pricing of new games, to a new, suspiciouslyBloodborneadjacent title from FromSoftware calledThe Duskbloods. Still,Hollow Knightfans didn’t let the mere seconds ofSilksongpass by without notice, and it gave them the news they sought.
As part of the presentation,Hollow Knight: Silksonggot a release window, aiming for some time in 2025. TheHollow Knightfan base went from dead in the water to celebrating like they had won the World Cup, and the sudden rekindling of energy could be felt in the community.. There was still some skepticism about the release window, sinceSilksongoriginally had a2023 window that got pushed back, but after some news from a museum of all places, it feels like the 2025 release window could be true.
Hollow Knight: Silksong Could Release Before September 2025
And A Museum Is The Source, For Some Reason
It sometimes feels like the hunt forSilksongnews can lead fans to strange places, and the newest source of news comes from anAustralian museum’s gaming exhibition.Melbourne Museum is hosting a gaming exhibition called Game Worlds, which includes displays that look at game design and artistic direction.Hollow Knight: Silksongwill be a part of this exhibition, which begins on August 17, 2025, and ends on June 15, 2025, which means thatSilksongshould be released before September, else the exhibition will become a den of spoilers for an incomplete game.
So far,World of Warcraft, The Sims, Neopets, andHollow Knight: Silksonghave all been announced for the Game Worlds exhibition.
This is the first bit of news fans have got since the sneaky 2025 release window, and it backs this up, withSilksongpotentially releasing in September, before the exhibition. I personally found the Nintendo Direct release window even harder to believe after the trailer was removed from Steam. It was a strange action that bodes poorly for the given release window, although it could also be that Team Cherry is planning to put a more up-to-date trailer on the page soon. This was always an optimistic viewpoint,although an August or September release date would coincide with it.
Team Cherry is an Australian developer after all, and despite the tiny size of its development team, it is one of the massive success stories to come from Australia’s gaming scene.Hollow Knighthas an argument to be one of the most influential indie games of the 2010s, almost single-handedlyreviving the Metroidvania genre. Although an international exhibition, it makes sense for Team Cherry to be part of this exhibition in Melbourne, and it isn’t like the news isn’t being backed up with new material. This new material gives players an idea of the work needed to makeSilksong.
New Material For Silksong Has Been Shown Off
A Massive Sprite Sheet Of Hornet’s Animations Is Available
As part of the exhibition, Team Cherry has shared an extensivesprite sheet containing what seems to be all of Hornet’s poses with the Game World exhibition. This is quite an impressive sprite sheet, showing off all Hornet’s attacks, movement options, tools, and what looks to be some instances of her taking damage. One sprite has her being entrapped by what looks like a wrapping worm of some kind, not to be confused with wyrms, like the Pale King’s original form. Hopefully,Team Cherry being so opento sharing will correlate to the game being ready for release soon.
Team Cherry has a development team of three people: Ari Gibson, William Pellen, and Jack Vine.
Hornet’s sprite sheet seems more extensive than the Knights, and this makes sense,since her general movements are more complicated, from spinning around with a billowy skirt to using toolsto aid both combat and movement. It shows how much more work is going intoSilksongversus the originalHollow Knight, especially because there are dedicated sprites for Hornet’s threads. Some of these sprites could be taken from Hornet’s boss fights inHollow Knight, although it does seem like she has far more options as a playable character compared to her original NPC appearance.
Still, there is plenty to pick through for theorists like Mossbag. For instance,it appears as though Hornet will have some kind of lightning-enhanced dash, possibly being her version of the Knight’s void dashthat allows the player to pass through objects. The strange, wrapping tendril sprites could be something Hornet has access to as an ability, rather than her being attacked, although not enough is known about the game to make accurate assumptions. Hopefully, that will change with a new trailer soon and even a September release date reveal. One can only hope at this point.
Silksong’s Missing Steam Trailer Could Just Be A Red Herring
Maybe The Trailer Doesn’t Represent The Final Game
As has been the case withSilksong’s entire existence thus far, everything feels shrouded in speculation.Nintendo gaveSilksongfans a release window, not an exact date, and no real trailer,yet a museum is the reason why the window could be narrowed to before September. There aren’t many games that have fans flying through as many hoops, looking for tiny details for any kind of scrap of news. So little is given that when it gets taken away, as was the case with the Steam page’s trailer, it can send fans into a panic, but this could be a sign of good things to come.
Thetrailer on the Steam pageis years old, and it could mean that Team Cherry is planning to stitch another together after all the work it has doneduring development. Although practically scraps, a release window, new splash art, and an entire sprite sheet for a museum all in recent months is a lot for Team Cherry. Materials have been shown more frequently in the last few months, and it is assumed that the sprite sheet would only be given if it was a finished product. Hopefully, that means work on Hornet specifically is done, and the game is close behind.
For someone who has been followingSilksongnews since it was announced as an expansion, I have always been skeptical of release windows and hypothetical dates, but things finally look like they’re moving in the right direction. With, hopefully, finalized materials being given for exhibitions, 2025 looks to be the year players can get their hands onHollow Knight: Silksong. Although it might be dangerous to admit this, I feel like the long wait is nearly over, and it will be time soon to leave Hallownest for the bells and threads of Pharloom.
