Hollow Knight Silksong is the most wanted game on Steam. After the release date was announced at gamescom 2025, several developers announced that they would be delaying their games.
What is Silksong? The indie metroidvania game Hollow Knight Silksong is the sequel to the first part and cult favorite Hollow Knight. It was first announced in 2019 as a DLC, but then the developers decided it should become its own game.
Since then, fans have eagerly awaited a release. At gamescom 2025, the release of Silksong was announced for September 4, 2025.
Why is it considered the GTA 6 of indie games? Grand Theft Auto 6 from Rockstar Games is one of the most anticipated releases of all time. Originally announced for Fall 2025, the current release date for GTA 6 is March 26, 2026. Several developers have scheduled their own releases to avoid colliding with the giant.
In the video you can see the reveal trailer for Hollow Knight Silksong:
Several developers avoid Silksong
Which developers are delaying their games? The studio Panik Arcade is currently working on their roguelike game CloverPit, which was supposed to be released on September 3, 2025. In a blog post on Steam, the developers write: “Some of you may have already guessed the reason for the delay: Hollow Knight Silksong.” The new release for CloverPit is scheduled for September 26, 2025.
The team from Aeternum Game Studios wanted to release their new ambitious game, Aeterna Luctis, in September. Following the announcement of the release date for Silksong, the developers issued a statement on X. They stated that Aeterna Luctis will not be released until 2026. This allows Aeternum Game Studios to further refine their game while avoiding Silksong.
A Kickstarter project is also afraid of Silksong: Stomp and the Sword of Miracles was set to get a demo on August 29, 2025, to promote the Kickstarter campaign scheduled for September 12. The developer writes on bsky.com that he feels like a small crustacean that does not want to be eaten by the blue whale and postpones the demo to an unspecified date.
Why are developers delaying their games? Hollow Knight is the most wanted game on Steam and fans have been eagerly awaiting the release for years. It is therefore realistic that hundreds of thousands of players will rush to the Metroidvania upon launch, overlooking other new releases.
Especially for smaller indie games that do not have a huge budget for marketing, the time immediately after release is particularly important to be listed among the popular new releases on Steam and thus attract potential players. A developer had to learn this the hard way.
