It’s develop into the brand new regular, sadly, to attend years for a follow-up to our favourite video games. Whereas the realities of recent sport growth imply studios are working more durable than ever to satisfy ever-higher requirements, that hasn’t stopped initiatives like Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6, Valve’s Half-Life 3, and particularly Staff Cherry’s Silksong from turning into the unwitting faces of the trade’s lengthening timelines. That final one is shocking as a result of when it was first introduced, it didn’t appear to be the sequel to Hole Knight was all that distant.
Months became years, and till very lately, it felt like we have been no nearer to Silksong than we have been in 2019, again once we performed a hands-on demo of the paranormal sequel. Within the years since, Silksong has achieved meme standing, the place followers don clown make-up and wigs after every new Nintendo Direct or Xbox Developer Showcase fails to convey them nearer to the promised sequel. How did we get right here? And simply how a lot nearer are we to the fabled Silksong launch?
Silksong Was Initially Purported to Be DLC
Australian-based studio Staff Cherry first launched Hole Knight on Kickstarter again in 2014, hoping to safe sufficient funding to show its 2D Soulslike+Metroidvania fusion sport jam prototype right into a full-fledged sport. After assembly its preliminary funding goal, Staff Cherry revealed further stretch objectives that promised new quests, bosses, and, ultimately, a second playable character named Hornet. These funding targets have been met, and so growth started on increasing Hole Knight.
As promised, Hole Knight’s 2017 launch was adopted by a collection of DLC drops. The Hidden Goals, The Grimm Troupe, and Gods and Glory added new boss fights, quest strains, quick journey mechanics, and extra to the bottom sport. However what in regards to the second playable character? The place was Hornet?
Then, on February 14, 2019, Hole Knight: Silksong was formally introduced. In a weblog publish and developer diary, Staff Cherry defined how plans for Hornet had shortly developed. Initially, the builders debated whether or not so as to add her as a second protagonist that gamers might swap to throughout the primary marketing campaign or to make her the star of a standalone chapter. Finally, the concepts for Hornet grew so massive that Staff Cherry determined to spin the DLC off right into a full sequel.
The plan was now to inform a model new Hornet-focused story in a completely new kingdom. She would have a really totally different playstyle – rather more nimble and acrobatic than The Knight, who’s slower and heavier compared. She would wish all her velocity and dexterity when going up in opposition to Silksong’s over 150 new enemies and managers.
Followers of Hole Knight rejoiced, and Staff Cherry capitalized on the joy for Silksong shortly…
We Even Performed It
Although Staff Cherry by no means introduced a launch date, none of us anticipated Silksong’s unveiling could be the beginning of a six-year-plus wait to get to the sequel. The identical yr because the announcement, Staff Cherry was all-in on selling Silksong, revealing a forged of NPC characters by way of an anniversary weblog publish in March 2019, earlier than showcasing a playable demo at E3 2019.
Not solely did we at IGN see the demo ourselves at E3 that yr, however our very personal Tom Marks performed it. In his preview, he wrote, “Hole Knight is certainly one of my favourite video games ever, however I feel Silksong has the potential to be even higher.”
The demo was roughly 20 minutes lengthy and occurred in a brand new, fiery space full of a number of new enemies and two boss fights. I caught up with Marks for this story to ask him if, on the time, the Silksong demo appeared like a sport that might be prepared in just a few years, or if it felt removed from completed.
“It didn’t really feel six years away,” Marks tells me. “You [could] inform it wasn’t the ultimate model, however based mostly on the vertical slice I performed, it felt actually polished.”
This demo would later be taken to PAX Australia 2019 and shared with attendees there as nicely. Usually when a sport exhibits up with a playable construct at a number of occasions, issues are closing in on the end line, and so we have been all fully unaware of the fact that awaited.
Because the publicity marketing campaign progressed into 2020, Staff Cherry advertising and marketing and publishing lead Matthew “Leth” Griffin started revealing new NPCs on the official Hole Knight Discord server as a reward for followers fixing a wide range of riddles. And in that December, there was a full-on cowl story in Edge Journal problem #354 with new particulars, screenshots, and an enlightening interview with Staff Cherry co-directors Ari Gibson and William Pellen that mentioned deeper, extra intricate ranges and provided a glimpse into Hornet’s mysterious story.
Silksong Goes Into Hiding
The frenzy of Silksong information within the rapid aftermath of the sequel’s announcement would quickly give method to an extended winter. Staff Cherry went radio silent all through 2021, and followers spent the yr ready for any signal of a launch date. A 2020-2021 launch window was anticipated, thanks to a couple unintentional messaging blips that despatched the rumor mill turning.
In September 2019, as an illustration, the official Silksong Steam web page was abruptly up to date with a June 12, 2020, launch date. Later, Staff Cherry would affirm it was simply an unintentional placeholder date. Simply a few months later, on August 20, the Silksong brand appeared in an official Nintendo UK tweet that learn, “Check out some upcoming video games headed to Nintendo Change this yr and past.” It wasn’t instantly clear that Silksong belonged firmly within the “past” class – we’d but to study that anticipating it anytime quickly was folly.
“Completely not, you clown,” the universe responds.
“Every little thing Proven At this time Will Be Playable within the Subsequent 12 Months”
It wouldn’t be till nearly one other two years had handed that we’d see Silksong once more. On June 12, 2022, Xbox aired its annual summer time Video games Showcase, which premiered, amongst different issues, a model new, minute-long trailer for Silksong. However whereas it revealed new gameplay, areas, and managers, the trailer didn’t embrace a launch date. It did, nonetheless, announce that Silksong can be playable day one on Xbox Sport Go.
This may need been sufficient for followers if it weren’t for an unlucky follow-up message from Xbox.
After the showcase, the official Xbox Twitter account posted, “Every little thing you’re seeing at present is playable over the following 12 months.” Given Silksong was one of many video games current within the showcase, this was rightfully taken as a launch window for the sport.
“So that you’re telling me SIlksong is out throughout the subsequent 12 months?” requested one consumer on Twitter. “That’s precisely what we stated,” Xbox answered.
Oh boy.
That is precisely what we stated.
— Xbox (@Xbox) June 12, 2022
Silksong Will get an Official Delay, With out Ever Getting a Launch Date
To be truthful, it did appear to be Staff Cherry’s plan was to launch Silksong inside 12 months of the Xbox Video games Showcase. This a lot was confirmed by Staff Cherry’s Matthew Griffin, who shared on Twitter in Might 2023 that Silksong was deliberate to be launched within the “1st half of 2023.”
Nevertheless, Griffin added that sadly, “growth remains to be persevering with. We’re excited by how the sport is shaping up, and it’s gotten fairly massive, so we wish to take the time to make the sport pretty much as good as we will. Anticipate extra particulars from us as soon as we get nearer to launch.”
So, with out ever asserting a launch date, Silksong obtained an official delay from Staff Cherry.
Hey gang, only a fast replace about Silksong.
We had deliberate to launch within the 1st half of 2023, however growth remains to be persevering with. We’re excited by how the sport is shaping up, and it is gotten fairly massive, so we wish to take the time to make the sport pretty much as good as we will.
Anticipate…
— Matthew Griffin (@griffinmatta) Might 10, 2023
Silksong Turns into a Meme
Within the years since Silksong was first introduced, quite a bit has modified within the video games trade. The COVID-19 pandemic meant that in-person occasions have been quickly paused, with some occasions like E3 now seemingly gone for good. Instead of these conventional occasions, numerous digital showcases from the likes of Geoff Keighley, Xbox, PlayStation, and even yours really right here at IGN, in addition to numerous others, have been created to fill the void of E3.
This meant there have been now dozens of potential new showcases the place Staff Cherry might share extra details about Silksong. Each new indie sport showcase, Nintendo Direct, or any variety of different exhibits had the potential to disclose a brand new Silksong trailer, ideally one with a launch date. And with every new showcase that didn’t ship the products, followers started to deal with Silksong’s absence as a working joke.
Anybody who follows the video games trade on social media will seemingly acknowledge the preferred Silksong meme: Anytime an organization posts about an upcoming sport showcase, there can be at the very least one image of the Knight from Hole Knight or Hornet from Silksong in a clown wig and make-up, indicating that the poster is able to really feel like a idiot when Silksong inevitably fails to seem.
Fan artwork of the Knight or Hornet in clown regalia is now ubiquitous. It signifies the folly of desirous to study extra about Silksong. The rainbow-colored wig and clown nostril have develop into the unofficial uniform for Silksong followers after years of struggling. “Will there be Silksong on the new Nintendo Associate Direct?” followers dare to ask. “Completely not, you clown,” the universe responds.
And simply to show the universe can be in on the joke, the primary time Silksong obtained an official itemizing on the Xbox retailer was on April 1, 2024. April Idiot’s Day.
Gentle on the Finish of the Tunnel
Staff Cherry confirmed a number of instances all through 2024 that Silksong wouldn’t be showing at any of that yr’s greatest exhibits. It was not current in any of 2024’s E3-replacement Summer time Showcases, and Geoff Keighley confirmed that Silksong would not seem as a part of Opening Night time Reside at Gamescom 2024. Staff Cherry additionally skipped back-to-back Nintendo Directs that yr, each the August 2024 Indie Direct and the Third-Social gathering Associate Direct.
Nevertheless, 2025 has been a unique story. The yr started with a fan posting on the official Hole Knight subreddit that they bumped into Silksong co-director Ari Gibson. In line with the fan, Gibson joked about there not being a sequel but, however that there could be extra to share “quickly.”
That was no bluff. On March 19, 2025, Xbox printed a brand new ID@Xbox weblog highlighting its ongoing commitments to launch nice indie video games, together with Silksong. And some weeks later, through the April 2 Nintendo Direct, Silksong re-emerged within the present’s sizzle reel with a 2025 launch window.
Silksong made one other look through the announcement for the upcoming ROG Ally X handheld, the place the sport was seen briefly working on the Xbox-branded machine. Staff Cherry’s Matthew Griffin later confirmed within the official Hole Knight Discord server that Silksong’s launch is not tied to any explicit console and the sequel remains to be slated to be launched “earlier than vacation [2025].” And now we all know that Silksong can be playable on the Xbox sales space at Gamescom. This would be the first playable demo for the sport since 2019.
Whereas Silksong was a no-show at the newest Nintendo Associate Direct — cue the clown memes — it does really feel like we’re lastly going to get the elusive Silksong, six lengthy, painful years after it was introduced that the DLC character, Hornet, can be starring in her personal sport. Possibly we will begin eradicating the clown make-up from our faces as soon as and for all.
Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Options Editor.