After years of anticipation, delays, memes, and showcase appearances, the wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong finally ended in 2025.

Developed and published by Australian indie studio Team Cherry, Silksong is the long-awaited sequel to the original Hollow Knight.

The game launched worldwide on September 4, 2025, across PC, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms. It also launched day one on Xbox Game Pass.

Instead of controlling the Knight from the original game, players take control of Hornet, the princess-protector of Hallownest.

Her journey takes her far away from the ruins of Hallownest and into the mysterious kingdom of Pharloom.

🕷️ Who Is Hornet?

Hornet is one of the most recognizable characters from the original Hollow Knight.

She appeared throughout the first game as a mysterious warrior who tested the Knight's abilities.

In Silksong, she becomes the protagonist.

Hornet's fighting style is significantly faster and more acrobatic than the Knight's.

She uses her needle as her primary weapon and combines it with:

• Rapid movement
• Aerial attacks
• Needle-based abilities
• Silk-powered techniques
• Craftable tools
• Agile platforming

This creates a noticeably different style of combat and exploration.

🏰 Welcome to Pharloom

The original Hollow Knight took players through the ruined kingdom of Hallownest.

Silksong moves somewhere completely different.

Hornet is captured and transported to the mysterious kingdom of Pharloom.

Her objective is to climb toward the kingdom's peak while discovering why she was brought there.

The official game description describes Pharloom as a land filled with gilded cities, misted moors, and dangerous creatures.

The journey is therefore structured around an important change from the original game:

Hollow Knight

Descend into Hallownest.

Silksong

Ascend through Pharloom.

🧵 The Silk System

One of the biggest gameplay differences is Hornet's use of Silk.

Hornet can collect Silk while fighting enemies.

The resource can then be used for various abilities, including healing and special techniques.

This creates a different combat rhythm from the original game's SOUL system.

Instead of simply relying on the Knight's traditional healing mechanics, Hornet's abilities are tied directly to her movement and combat.

🪡 Hornet's Needle

Hornet's primary weapon is her needle.

Unlike the Knight's relatively straightforward Nail attacks, Hornet's needle works particularly well with her faster movement.

Combat can involve:

• Fast directional attacks
• Airborne strikes
• Long-range needle techniques
• Mobility-based attacks
• Silk-powered abilities

The result is a much more agile combat system.

🛠️ Crafting and Tools

Silksong expands the original game's equipment system with a much stronger emphasis on tools.

Hornet can collect materials and use them to create equipment that changes how she approaches combat and exploration.

The official game description specifically highlights an arsenal of weapons, traps, and mechanisms that can be crafted and used throughout Pharloom.

This gives players more flexibility when dealing with different enemies and situations.

🗺️ Exploring Pharloom

Pharloom is designed around interconnected exploration.

Players encounter:

• Ancient structures
• Underground regions
• Gilded cities
• Dangerous wilderness
• Hidden pathways
• Boss arenas
• Mysterious settlements

The game continues the exploration-heavy Metroidvania design of the original.

New abilities open previously inaccessible areas, encouraging players to revisit locations and search for hidden routes.

🐛 More Than 200 Enemies

One of the game's biggest additions is its enormous enemy roster.

The official Xbox listing states that Silksong contains more than 200 enemies, including beasts, hunters, assassins, kings, monsters, and knights.

This gives Pharloom a huge variety of threats.

Enemies aren't simply obstacles between checkpoints.

Many require players to learn their attack patterns and adapt Hornet's movement accordingly.

👑 Boss Battles

Boss encounters remain one of the defining parts of the Hollow Knight formula.

Silksong features numerous bosses and major enemies designed around precise movement, timing, and pattern recognition.

Hornet's faster movement changes the feel of these encounters compared with the original game.

Players need to combine:

Movement + attacks + Silk + tools + positioning

to survive the game's most difficult fights.

📜 Quests and NPCs

Silksong also expands the role of quests.

Hornet encounters numerous characters throughout Pharloom, many of whom provide tasks and information.

The official game description specifically highlights quests that allow Hornet to aid characters and restore hope to parts of the kingdom.

These quests provide another reason to explore areas that players might otherwise pass through quickly.

🎵 The Soundtrack

The game's soundtrack was composed by Christopher Larkin, who also created the music for the original Hollow Knight.

The score combines:

• Orchestral strings
• Atmospheric melodies
• Dramatic boss themes
• Emotional character music

Team Cherry describes the soundtrack as a vibrant orchestral score accompanying Hornet's journey through Pharloom.

🎮 Platforms

Hollow Knight: Silksong is available across a wide range of platforms.

Team Cherry's official release announcement confirmed availability across the major platforms, while the Xbox version launched day one through Game Pass.

☁️ Xbox Game Pass

One of the biggest advantages for Xbox players is that Silksong launched day one on Xbox Game Pass.

Xbox currently lists the game as cloud playable through Game Pass Premium and Ultimate, while also supporting Xbox Play Anywhere.

This means eligible players can access the game across Microsoft's supported ecosystem without purchasing a separate Xbox copy.

📅 The Road to Release

The journey to Silksong's launch was unusually long.

The game was originally announced in 2019.

For years afterward, Team Cherry provided only occasional updates, causing the game to become one of the industry's most anticipated releases.

Then the situation changed dramatically in 2025.

Team Cherry announced a special presentation for August 21, 2025, promising an important Silksong announcement.

That presentation revealed the release date:

September 4, 2025

The game subsequently launched worldwide on that date.

🚀 The Launch

When Silksong finally arrived, it immediately became one of the biggest launches in indie-game history.

The enormous demand also created substantial pressure on digital storefronts.

Team Cherry later reported that more than seven million players had purchased the game, with millions more playing through Xbox Game Pass.

That figure demonstrates just how much anticipation had accumulated around the game during its long development.

⭐ Reception

The game received extremely strong player reception following release.

Its Steam page currently lists:

Very Positive

with more than 143,000 English-language reviews and approximately 93% positive at the time of verification.

That makes Silksong one of the most successful critically and commercially received Metroidvania releases of its generation.

🌊 The Future: Sea of Sorrow

Team Cherry has already confirmed that Silksong is not necessarily the end of Hornet's journey.

The studio announced a major free expansion currently titled:

Hollow Knight: Silksong – Sea of Sorrow

The expansion is planned to introduce:

• New areas
• New bosses
• New tools
• Additional adventures for Hornet

Team Cherry has confirmed that the expansion will be free for all players.

More details are expected closer to its release.

📊 Hollow Knight: Silksong at a Glance

🆚 Hollow Knight vs. Silksong

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

When did Hollow Knight: Silksong release?

Silksong released on September 4, 2025.

Is Silksong a sequel to Hollow Knight?

Yes. It is the direct sequel to Hollow Knight.

Who do you play as?

You play as Hornet, the princess-protector of Hallownest.

Where does Silksong take place?

The game takes place primarily in the mysterious kingdom of Pharloom.

Is Silksong available on Nintendo Switch 2?

Yes.

Is Silksong on Xbox Game Pass?

Yes. It launched day one on Xbox Game Pass.

How many enemies are in Silksong?

The official Xbox listing says the game contains more than 200 enemies.

Is there going to be Silksong DLC?

Team Cherry has announced Sea of Sorrow, a free expansion containing new areas, bosses, tools, and more.

Did Silksong shadow drop in August 2026?

No. This claim is incorrect. The game released on September 4, 2025 following its August 2025 release-date announcement.

🏁 The Bottom Line

Hollow Knight: Silksong went from one of gaming's longest-running jokes to one of its biggest indie releases.

After years of waiting, Team Cherry delivered a completely new adventure centered around Hornet, replacing Hallownest with the mysterious kingdom of Pharloom and introducing faster movement, new tools, Silk abilities, hundreds of enemies, and a huge collection of quests and bosses.

The game launched on September 4, 2025, rather than August 2026, and is now available across PC, Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch platforms.

And the story isn't finished.

With Sea of Sorrow already announced as a free expansion, Hornet's journey through Pharloom is set to continue.

The wait ended. The hunt began.