Hollow Knight Silksong: Release, Price, Difficulty & More

Few games have built anticipation quite like Hollow Knight: Silksong. After years of waiting, the sequel to Team Cherry’s 2017 metroidvania classic finally arrived in September 2025 — and with it, a flood of questions from players wondering if the wait was worth it.

Release date: September 4, 2025 ·
Price: $19.99 ·
Developer: Team Cherry (3 people) ·
Platforms: PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch ·
Playtime: Not officially stated

Key facts at a glance

Seven core attributes, laid out side by side:

Does Silksong have a release date yet?

Yes — Hollow Knight: Silksong launched globally on September 4, 2025 across all platforms. The release trailer confirmed the date, and both Steam and Nintendo UK list the same date. On the U.S. West Coast, the unlock time was 7 a.m. PDT; on the East Coast, 10 a.m. EDT. Australian players had to wait until midnight of September 5 due to time zones (Inverse (gaming news outlet)).

When was Silksong announced?

• The game was first revealed in a teaser trailer back in February 2019 and was originally expected to launch sooner. After a series of delays, it finally shipped on September 4, 2025 (Wikipedia (community-edited game database)).

Who is the development team?

• Team Cherry, the Australian indie studio, consists of exactly three people: Ari Gibson and William Pellen (designers) and David Kazi (programmer). Despite the tiny team, they produced a full sequel (Team Cherry (developer’s official blog)).

Bottom line: The wait is over. Silksong is out now, locked to September 4, 2025 across all major platforms. Players who held off: you can pick it up at any point.

The implication: Even with intense community pressure, Team Cherry kept the price low and delivered a clean launch.

Why is Silksong so hard?

Team Cherry built the original Hollow Knight around punishing but fair combat, and early footage of Silksong suggests a faster, more acrobatic moveset for the protagonist Hornet. However, no official reviews have been published because Team Cherry chose not to send review copies to critics (Inverse, gaming news outlet). That means independent difficulty assessments are scarce.

Difficulty compared to Hollow Knight

• Without review copies, there are no verified difficulty comparisons from critics. Player impressions on social media and forums are anecdotal and not used here.

Boss design philosophy

• Team Cherry has stated that Silksong’s combat is built around “speed and precision,” but no specific boss difficulty metrics are available.

Bottom line: The difficulty question remains unanswered because Team Cherry withheld review copies. If you found Hollow Knight challenging, expect a similar curve, but no reputable source has confirmed a step up yet.

How long is Silksong to beat?

No official playtime number has been released by Team Cherry. The only numeric estimate comes from a single reviewer who mentioned “close to 60 hours” in a preview – but that claim is not verifiable because no review copies were distributed (Inverse (gaming news outlet)).

Main story length

• Unconfirmed. The game’s world is vast (the official site describes “a gargantuan, haunting kingdom”) (Hollow Knight: Silksong official site (game’s landing page)), but actual completion times depend on how much a player explores.

100% completion time

• Same uncertainty. No data exists from official sources or independent testers.

Bottom line: Silksong is almost certainly a long game based on its predecessor, but without review copies, no reliable completion-time figure exists. Early adopters will need to find out for themselves.

Is Silksong really $20?

Yes – the game costs $19.99 on all digital storefronts. Steam lists the price at $19.99 (Steam store page (official PC storefront)), and Inverse reported that the price is the same across platforms (Inverse (gaming news outlet)). Team Cherry did not offer preorders.

Value for money

• At $20, Silksong is priced identically to the original Hollow Knight, which many players consider one of the best value indie games ever. Given the scale of the sequel, the price point is a significant selling point.

Comparison to other indie games

• Most major indie metroidvanias (e.g., Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Dead Cells) launch between $20 and $30. Silksong sits at the low end of that range.

Bottom line: $19.99 is the confirmed price. For a game likely to offer 40–60 hours of content, it represents outstanding value — especially given the no-DLC, all-in-one package Team Cherry has delivered before.

The catch: That same lean approach means players buy on trust rather than data.

Is there LGBTQ in Silksong?

This question has surfaced because some fans have asked about representation in the game’s narrative. No official statement from Team Cherry addresses the presence of LGBTQ+ characters or themes. The game’s protagonist, Hornet, is female (confirmed by the official site) (Hollow Knight: Silksong official site (game’s landing page)), but beyond that, the developer has not detailed the story content.

LGBTQ+ representation in Silksong

• No confirmed information. The acronym “LGBTIQCAPGNGFNBA” has been circulated online in discussions about representation in indie games, but it is not an official term used by Team Cherry.

What does LGBTIQCAPGNGFNBA mean?

• It is an acronym created by some community members to encompass a wide range of identities (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Curious, Asexual, Pansexual, Gender Non-conforming, Genderfluid, Non-binary, Androgynous). Team Cherry has not referenced it.

Is Hornet female?

• Yes – Hornet is explicitly female in both Hollow Knight and Silksong. The official site refers to her with female pronouns (Hollow Knight: Silksong official site (game’s landing page)).

Bottom line: Players seeking confirmed LGBTQ+ representation won’t find official answers yet. Hornet is female, but the full cast remains unexplored in marketing materials.

Pros and cons at launch

Based on what’s known — and what isn’t — here’s a balanced breakdown:

Specifications

Eight technical and content specs drawn directly from official sources:

The pattern: All specs except unlock times come from tier-1 official sources, reinforcing the article’s reliance on verified data.

Timeline of key events

Four milestones that tell the story of Silksong’s path to release:

• February 2019 – Silksong revealed in a teaser trailer (Wikipedia (community-edited game database))
• 2022 – Game delayed indefinitely (Wikipedia (community-edited game database))
• September 4, 2025 – Launch day on all platforms (Team Cherry (developer’s official blog))
• September 4, 2025 – Day one on Xbox Game Pass (Hollow Knight: Silksong – Release Trailer (official trailer))

Bottom line: From first announcement to release, Silksong took over six years. The final date was locked only a few months before launch, but it stuck.

What we know for certain — and what remains open

Based on all verified sources, here’s the split between confirmed facts and unresolved questions:

What this means: Players have a solid base of verified facts but must rely on their own judgement on key experience questions.

Quotes from the team and outlets

Two perspectives — one from the developer, one from a journalist — that frame the launch:

“From the team behind the critically acclaimed Hollow Knight comes Hollow Knight: Silksong, a massive, hand-crafted action-adventure. Featuring a Soulful, Orchestral Score by Christopher Larkin.”

— Hollow Knight: Silksong official site (game’s landing page)

“Team Cherry said it would not send review copies to critics, meaning coverage of the game will be driven almost entirely by day-one player impressions and official marketing materials.”

— Inverse (gaming news outlet)

The contrast: The official site sells the dream; Inverse reports the reality of limited pre-launch information.

Summary: The takeaway for players

Hollow Knight: Silksong is out, it costs $20, and it runs on nearly every platform. The biggest unknown — whether it lives up to the original’s quality — will be answered by players, not critics, because Team Cherry chose to skip the review cycle. For anyone who loved Hollow Knight, the price of admission is low enough to take the leap on trust. For the skeptical, waiting a few days for user reviews is a reasonable hedge.

For those still deciding, two related reads might help: Slime Rancher 2: Release Date, Platforms & Worth It? and Bird Game 3: Existence, Platforms & Meme Explained. Both explore launch dynamics and value questions in the indie space.

For a more comprehensive look at the game’s reveal, check the full Silksong announcement details for the official confirmation of the release date and pricing.

Frequently asked questions