Team Cherry’s long-awaited Hollow Knight sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, finally came out of hiding on Sunday at Microsoft’s Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase. The developer showed extended gameplay of Silksong and confirmed that it’s coming day one to Game Pass. But the studio still did not provide a release date for the highly anticipated and very delayed 2D platforming action game.
However, Xbox corporate vice president Sarah Bond later said that the games shown during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase will be released within the next 12 months.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is a follow-up to 2017’s Hollow Knight, the beloved, Dark Souls-inspired Metroidvania filled with bug people. But Silksong follows a new protagonist, Hornet, who played both friend and foe to the Knight in the original game. In Hollow Knight: Silksong, players get to control her, navigating a completely new world and using new powers.
According to Team Cherry’s original announcement, the developer intended Silksong to be add-on content for the original Hollow Knight but the project grew much larger. “Almost from the very start, Hornet’s adventure was intended to take place in a new land, but as we dove in, it quickly became too large and too unique to stay a DLC, as initially planned,” the developer said.
The original Hollow Knight was released in 2017 for Windows PC. Team Cherry later brought the game to Linux, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Hollow Knight was originally crowdfunded through Kickstarter. Players who backed the game’s fundraising campaign will automatically get Hollow Knight: Silksong for free.