Hollow Knight: Silksong Shatters Records with Historic Launch

Hollow Knight: Silksong has exploded onto the scene in spectacular fashion, setting a new benchmark for indie gaming launches and smashing through player records on Steam within minutes of its release. The much-anticipated sequel from Australian studio Team Cherry managed to draw in an astonishing 103,994 concurrent players at launch, obliterating the original Hollow Knight’s all-time record of 72,916 – a record that had only just been reached the day before.

With numbers still climbing, Silksong may well establish itself as one of the most played indie releases in Steam’s history.

The sudden demand was so overwhelming that major storefronts, including Steam and the Xbox store, experienced temporary outages as eager fans rushed to download the game. This kind of surge is usually reserved for big-budget blockbusters, but Silksong’s showing proves just how deeply the Metroidvania genre – and this franchise in particular – has resonated with players across the globe. For many, this wasn’t just a game release; it was the culmination of years of waiting, speculation, and near-silence from the developers.

Part of Silksong’s incredible momentum stems from its long and mysterious development cycle. Team Cherry went quiet for years, offering little more than sporadic teasers that left fans wondering if the sequel would ever see the light of day. Then, in a move nobody saw coming, the studio dropped a surprise announcement just two weeks before release, confirming the game would arrive in early September. The shock reveal only amplified the hype, and judging by the player numbers, the gamble more than paid off.

For returning fans, Silksong represents not just more of the same, but a reinvention of everything that made the first Hollow Knight a modern classic. Players now take on the role of Hornet, a skilled and agile warrior navigating the new kingdom of Pharloom. Along the way, she faces a host of fresh, formidable bosses, uncovers secrets tied to her past, and engages in a far more elaborate quest system than the original ever offered. This is a sequel that doesn’t simply build on its predecessor; it expands it in almost every direction, from combat depth to narrative ambition.

Silksong is now available across nearly every major gaming platform, including PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and even the newly launched Nintendo Switch 2. In addition, Xbox Game Pass subscribers can dive into the experience at no extra cost, widening the game’s reach even further. With such accessibility and staggering launch figures, it’s not unreasonable to expect Silksong to dominate gaming discourse for weeks, if not months, to come.

The legacy of Hollow Knight was already secure as one of the greatest indie games of the past decade. But with Silksong, Team Cherry has not only proven the franchise’s staying power – they’ve cemented its place at the heart of modern gaming culture.