Hollow Knight fans have been waiting quite a while for news about its sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong. The wait has been so unbearable that even a casual mention, like the one Xbox dropped in a recent ID@Xbox post, can ignite the fires of those holding out for a 2025 drop.
On Xbox Wire, ID@Xbox director Guy Richards shared a post detailing how over $5 billion have been paid to independent developers through the program. It mostly goes over the success of past ID@Xbox launches, ranging from Phasmophobia and Balatro to Another Crab's Treasure and Neva. Then, in a portion about upcoming games, we get the name-drop:
"Looking ahead, our lineup is incredible with upcoming games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Descenders Next, and FBC: Firebreak to play across the whole Xbox universe… and of course Hollow Knight: Silksong too!"
This mostly confirms that Hollow Knight: Silksong will launch sometime between me typing this, right now, and the end of all time. Granted, those games are interesting mentions. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is set for April 24, Descenders Next for April 9, and FBC: Firebreak has had a tentative 2025 window. This could imply Hollow Knight: Silksong is within some measure of grasp.
Fans are, to some degree, understandably impatient to learn whether Silksong might arrive, as it's been roughly six years since its announcement. Now, let's see how the Silksong faithful are reacting to this mention.
"Where's the bait?" one commenter asked on the Silksong subreddit. Another said: "Silksong being mentioned by Xbox?" and followed it up with an image of the Squid Game Season 2 scene where protagonist Seong Gi-hun declares: "I have played these games before!"
There is a palpable air of both joking and irony that comes with communities like this, where groups have essentially bonded over waiting for news about something. Another post draws attention to this, noting that "we" — the Silksong holdouts — are a "circus at this point," making their point with the Patrick Star/Man Ray meme format.
The prevailing hope, or joke, is that news about Hollow Knight: Silksong is destined for April 2, during Nintendo's Switch 2 Direct. To fans' credit, developer Team Cherry did stoke the flames a bit with some vague posting around the official reveal of the Switch 2. The believers hold out hope, while the doubters sow doubt. "We are an [$8] Mega Buffoon Pack," one commenter said in response to the circus meme.
Hope and doubt comes in all shapes and sizes. But my favorite response to Xbox casually saying, "and of course Hollow Knight: Silksong too!" and all the speculation and cycles this causes, came from Reddit user u/cerberusthedoge: "We got Hollow Knight Silksong 2 before Hollow Knight Silksong."
Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.
