Hollow Knight breaks peak player count as fans await Silksong

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 28/08/2025

Hollow Knight has broken its peak player record again as players gear up for the release of Silksong on September 4.

The indie classic broke 51,000 concurrent players on stream, once again breaking the game’s record with player numbers surging since the Silksong release date announcement.

Why is Hollow Knight so beloved?

Hollow Knight is one of the most celebrated indie games of all time. The metroidvania garnered critical praise for its scope, attention to detail, visual style, environmental storytelling, and rewarding combat.

Another aspect praised by reviewers was its incredible value for money. The game, originally priced at £15, gave players a huge and detailed map to explore, with players often sinking dozens of hours into the game despite the cheap price point. The most controversial aspect of Hollow Knight’s price was that Team Cherry didn’t charge more!

That scope is now something players will have to fight against as they prepare for the release of the sequel, if first-time players want to catch up in time for release, but Hollow Knight is best played through thorough exploration, so don’t rush too much.

Silksong’s ‘Special Announcement’ video was posted on YouTube on August 21. The two-minute video showed off gameplay and some of the protagonist Hornet’s moveset, ending with the stinger of the release date.

The September 4th release date took the gaming world by surprise, as it was so soon. Years of memes questioning whether the game even existed evaporated in a moment when the date was shown on the screen.

Indie games delayed by Silksong release date

The release date wasn’t good news for everyone, however, as the announcement fell on or near the release of several indie games, which quickly changed their own release dates to avoid competing with the much-anticipated sequel.

Aeterna Lucis, Baby Steps, Faeland 1.0, Little Witch in the Woods 1.0, Stomp and the Sword of Miracles, and casino slots rogue-like CloverPit are amongst the games to dash out of the way of the stampeding rhino that is Silksong’s momentum.

Frogteam Games, developer of Stomp and the Sword of Miracles, which is delayed from September 3rd to September 26, wrote, “Trying to market an indie game is already really, really hard. It’s the task of trying to get attention in a deep sea of other amazing games. In the case of Silksong, however, I feel like a little krill trying not to get eaten by a blue whale.”

While Silksong itself remains an Indie game made by Team Cherry, developers of Hollow Knight, it seems that all Indie Devs are not equal. Hollow Knight’s sequel is one of the most highly anticipated games of all time, not just indie games of all time, therefore, avoiding it is a matter of survival for these small developers.

That being said, developers are gamers too and many whose projects were delayed, including Aeternum Games Studios, noted that they were excited to play the sequel to one of Indie’s most critically acclaimed and influential titles in recent years.

Aeternum stated, “We know Silksong will be a success and a masterpiece. Instead of rivalry, what we feel is gratitude,” going on to thank Hollow Knight for elevating the genre.

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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