We've got some breaking news about the anticipated Xbox Game Pass release Hollow Knight: Silksong, with Team Cherry's marketing and publishing rep Matthew Griffin announcing a delay.
Today's update mentions how the game was "planned to release in the 1st half of 2023" but development is still underway - with more details to be shared when the team gets closer to release. Here's the message in full (via social media):
"Hey gang, just a quick update about Silksong. We had planned to release in the 1st half of 2023, but development is still continuing. We're excited by how the game is shaping up, and it's gotten quite big, so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can. Expect more details from us once we get closer to release.
As you might recall, the game was featured at the Xbox Showcase last June, with the promise of arriving within "the next 12 months". While it's probably not the news most Hollow Knight fans were wanting to hear, it is mentioned how the team wants to make sure the game is "as good as" it can be, before it's released.
Silksong will also be arriving as a "day one" Game Pass release on Xbox, meaning you'll be able to play it right away if you subscribe to the service. As mentioned above, more details will be shared about Silksong as the team gets closer to release.
How are you feeling about this development update? Comment below.
Comments 30
When it releases I'm sure it will be a great game and the world will rejoice. But any anticipation or excitement I once felt evaporated long ago. It will be when it is.
Sheesh, I can't say I've ever seen a 2D game stuck in development hell for this long. This is ridiculous. I mean I loved the first game, and I'll play this if it ever comes out. But good grief lol!
Game delay’s are everywhere, yet if MS does one they get loads of Internet hate. If they release early (RedFall) they get hate and rightfully so. This is today’s game development. Can’t win. These games should be announced way late into development with no target dates to avoid keyboard warriors.
I already saw this one coming. Not surprised.
I would rather see a game delayed than something not quite right. Also, the development team deserve to see the completed vision of all their hard work.
@Green-Bandit sadly they are ‘known’ for delayed/late games so every time they delay one people are going to comment. They really do need to get the studios in order. Be that setting later release dates or whatever.
SE for example set a date for FF16 and had it go gold months in advance. So it is possible with the right deadline. (Not saying it’s going to be perfect etc).
But I guess most studios want a little extra time to look at their games after Redfall understandably.
This is just laughable at this point.
The industry really need to stop announcing games years in advance. They should start promoting once a game goes gold and they have a firm date. That would take some pressure of the devs as well.
Hardly surprising this late into the 12 month promise, but this is another embarrassing setback for the Xbox brand.
Those excuses are always the same: “we want it to be the best experience possible”. The same goes for developers that actually release their games in time. Just tell us you got your planning wrong, you didn’t oversee the scope of developing a game or whatever. These messages are so lazy.
Delay is better than a buggy game, a delay is the path Redfall should've taken. I really hope from all this that Microsoft learns their lesson and doesn't make another 12 month promise at next month's showcase. It's fine to focus on the next 12 months (like how Nintendo Directs are announced to be focused on the next 6 months) but all promising everything in the showcase will release within the next 12 months does is damage reputations.
All the delays this game has had, is it secretly being published by XGS? 🤣
@Trmn8r I don’t think it’s necessarily stuck in development hell. The reality is they HAD to announce it super-early right near the start of development because originally it was going to be DLC promised from the first games Kickstarter. That left them at a huge disadvantage.
Most games would have just been quietly in development for 2-4+ years and we never would have heard about them. Silksong didn’t have that luxury.
Perhaps it is in development hell, but point it we really don’t know. They are a tiny team.
@Grumblevolcano Redfall got delayed a solid year. Kinda makes you wonder what state the game was in last may…
@Bleachedsmiles It did get a delay already but if Microsoft had learned anything from Halo Infinite, they'd have delayed it again. If anything, Redfall showcases that Microsoft have learned absolutely nothing from the Halo Infinite mess.
@themightyant Also, there's the problem of trying to live up to Hollow Knight. Let's not even kid here, Hollow Knight wasn't just one of the best indie games last gen, it was maybe one of the best games, period. They kinda set the bar really, really high.
@SplooshDmg 100% the expectation is INSANE. You only have to look at large events like Xbox Showcase and every Nintendo Direct and see the number of people saying "Silksong" ad nauseum to see it's off the charts. Very difficult position to be in.
Team Cherry are 100% doing the right thing, heads down, getting on with it. But it can't be easy with so much pressure. In a perfect world they wouldn't have announced it so early and could have just worked on it for another 2-3+ years in silence.
Additionally while William and Ari the two designers on HK and heads at Team Cherry are obviously still working on the game they aren't working with the same original programmers David Kazi. Lastly Hornet has a very different moveset and style to the HK. It's going to be a VERY tough act to follow up. Tiny team, can lightening strike twice? I hope so.
I see a lot of people talk about this as "another Microsoft issue" regarding this game.... it isn't being published or developed by MS. It's coming out to every platform... I know it's tied to Gamepass, but MS literally has no control over Silksong.
@themightyant You can't deny though that the number of delays it has had is very unique however. You sound like their PR rep (or a burner account for them) the way you are responding to people about it and that you know all the devs names.
@Trmn8r Ha! I probably do. That would be a very long 3+ year undercover infiltration here on Pure Xbox. I love it. Lol.
But the reality is it HK was predominantly made by a team of 4-5 people (2 artists, 1-2 devs, 1 musician) with help from a few others. You only have to have watched 1 or 2 documentaries or dev diaries on Hollow Knight / Silksong to know them all. I’m just a big HK fan.
I agree it’s unique, because we knew about it REALLY early on in development because of unfulfilled kickstarter goals as I said, that almost never happens. Look at Hogwarts Legacy for example, that was leaked back in 2018, with a working vertical slice that looked almost ready, and only just came out in 2023.
Though I think this is the first quasi-official delay. They have never given a date, as far as I am aware, it’s always been “it’s ready when it’s ready”. Xbox’s “next 12 months” showcase last year was the closest we ever got to a date, though even then I don’t think Team Cherry ever confirmed that timeline. But I could be wrong on that.
@themightyant However, you are comparing a massive 3D open world game to a 2D game. It's just amazing how often games are delayed, and delayed, and delayed, and delayed these days. Devs need to do a better job of knowing where they are at and quit making empty promises. They enjoyed using "COVID delay" as an excuse, but that doesn't fly anymore. I guess I'm just tired of that state of games in general right now. I'd rather not know about a game until it will be released within a year.
@themightyant Agree on this - Has been shown as in development, but no dates mentioned (did any of us expect it to show up and release before June? I didn't)....
I think the experiences of game development landing on time has really been about crunch and insane late production. With that being now frowned upon / finally flagged for being cruel to the developers, the industry is finding it hard to manage the expectations and communications around these things
@Thenewguy
I feel the opposite I like watching games in their earliest development. I also have enough to play that the delay of one or more games doesn't ruin my day. Personally I hope Starfield would get delayed and switched over to unreal 5
@Green-Bandit I agree with everything you said. It seems MS can’t catch a break. I’ve been saying for awhile they should wait till the games are closer to completion before announcing them. Even games like Perfect Dark or Fable, games that don’t have release dates yet, people are online trolling that the games got delayed. It’s “cool” to hate on Xbox.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner i feel like the whole Gen has been delayed. GOWR and HFW on PS both missed their dates and got delayed, but were mostly really good on launch, minus bugs. But i agree with ya and i know MS has been a delay machine with its games. So i am hoping this year we start to see that pay off for them and in 2024 let the games really start to stack up and release.
@EvilSilentFrame i agree to hate on Xbox is like some kind of cool points online, but MS does make it easier to do at times. I really hope that changes soon. I think Fable and Perfect Dark were announced to acquire talent for the projects and give fan’s something to look forward to and build excitement. It worked for me cause i am excited for Fable, but i can be patient about it. Others just see the logo, want it right now and then make fun it got announced early. Can’t win.
Trmn8r wrote:
True. But we're also comparing a game with thousands of developers to one that, unless that have significantly staffed up, you can count devs on your hands and toes. Also HK was a massive 2D game and all reports suggest Silksong it substantially bigger.
But I was only really comparing them to suggest how long development takes if we ACTUALLY know about them early on rather than finding out about them in year 3,4,5 as normal.
As for delays I agree games are often delayed nowadays (they have gotten so big and complex) but in the case of Hollow Knight Silksong they have never actually given a release date or window so has it been delayed?
Separate to that it is crazy how long development has gotten. Often around 3-4+ years for an iterative sequel and often 5-6+ years for a brand new game. Bonkers. I'd actually like to see the scope of games reigned in and for developers to iterate on ideas quicker for smaller projects, but that isn't the way the industry is going, where bigger and longer and AAA razzle dazzle is seen as better.
@Green-Bandit I never gave it a thought that MS announce those two games early to acquire talent on them. It’s an interesting way of thinking of it. But it seems like anything MS has announced and didn’t give a date, I’ve read posts from people online saying the game has been delayed. They don’t have proof or anything. Just claiming the game got delayed.
Xbox is in a tough spot because after acquiring all the studios they did, people are expecting to see games come out. But right before they acquired the studios, most of them released a game. So it takes time to get the games ready. Then COVID put everything further behind. I personally wasn’t expecting a lot of these games till 2025, but I think MS is feeling the pressure and we are getting half baked games in the process. It’s not helping Xbox’s image.
@Grumblevolcano yep. Nothing every gets learned by Xbox…and, crucially, their players. Otherwise management would have changed long ago.
@EvilSilentFrame yeah lots of companies announce games so they can start to post job listings on LinkedIn and try and get dev’s that have a talent or interest for working on the game. It is suppose to give fan’s excitement that a game of their liking is coming to the platform but today’s entitled bunch see it as i can’t wait that long it should be out already, what’s taking so long etc etc and it does more negative PR then good sometimes. I am personally happy to know Fable is once again apart of the Xbox platform and can’t wait to see more on it.
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