Hollow Knight: Silksong is more or less a ghost. Developer Team Cherry has been offering only sporadic updates on the Metroidvania sequel since 2019, so, to eager fans, it might as well not exist, but distributor Xbox is apparently still confident the game will show.
"Looking ahead, our lineup is incredible with upcoming games," Xbox says in a new press release about its ID@Xbox program, which lets indie developers self-publish their games on Xbox consoles. "Like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Descenders Next, and FBC: Firebreak to play across the whole Xbox universe… and of course Hollow Knight: Silksong too!"
Xbox mentions Silksong casually, like it's tossing a salty fish to a circus seal, but there's nothing "of course" about the game's inclusion in its list. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will soon release on April 24, sports sim Descenders Next is out even sooner on April 9, and Remedy's FPS FBC: Firebreak is scheduled to release this year after being announced in 2024.
While some Silksong fans – who are traumatized at this point – may want to use Xbox's press release as their latest dose of copium, I'd advise against that. Compared to the games listed above, Silksong was announced in 2019, delayed indefinitely in 2023, and barely heard from again. Naturally, there have been crumbs; Team Cherry marketer Matthew Griffin told a fan earlier this year that "the game is real, progressing and will release," for example.
But fans are growing old and weary. They decided in February that a trivial moment when Nintendo removed Silksong's store page meant that the game was canceled… until Nintendo restored the page shortly after.
Fans are getting loopy. They're clawing at the wallpaper. So, at this point, I hope that Xbox is serious about implying a 2025 release date for Hollow Knight: Silksong, just to put fans out of their misery.
