Today's Nintendo Indie World featured a slew of cool-looking games, some of which are out today, but not two of the most anticipated indies that have been missing-in-action for some time. Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.Another Nintendo Indie World presentation means another opportunity for Hollow Knight: Silksong and Sports Story fans to have their hopes dashed against the indifferent rocks. While both sides may have valid points, it does mean that players are more reactive to slow games and delay announcements, and so the high levels of scrutiny and demand from fans are unavoidable even in spite of Silksong's release being potentially close at hand. For instance, discourse around lengthy development cycles has resurfaced where players are annoyed with studios taking too long on their games, with the likes of Bethesda and Rockstar as examples. However, even when bearing Hollow Knight's own development and success in mind, Silksong has other factors to contend with that its predecessor never did. But as Silksong has no such criteria or backers to answer to, it's possible that the frustration of no longer being able to see behind the scenes is aggravating players' responses to the sequel's delays. Due to its beginnings as a Kickstarter campaign, Hollow Knight's development was significantly more transparent than most other games, with Team Cherry's regular updates reassuring backers that progress was being made and goals met. It's also important to acknowledge how Team Cherry presented the development of Hollow Knight versus that of Hollow Knight: Silksong, as the inevitable differences between the two could be misguiding players' expectations. As much as players might be eagerly awaiting a return to Hollow Knight's world, its success shouldn't mislead players about Silksong's long and quiet development, especially for an indie game and after Covid-19 delayed the gaming industry at large. For example, Naughty Dog's The Last of Us and its sequel took three and five years respectively to develop, and both saw critical acclaim when they launched. Whether Hollow Knight got lucky or was destined to succeed isn't important, however, but recognizing that Team Cherry's debut game came from significantly humble beginnings and beat the odds should inform how Silksong's own development is viewed.Īdditionally, Hollow Knight itself took around three years to be fully developed and released, meaning that the four years of development Silksong has so far taken shouldn't be surprising or cause for concern. Though it's undeniable that the game's success proved its backers were right to support it, this isn't always the case for similar projects as at one point in time only a third of Kickstarter games fully delivered. It might be easy to overlook, but it should always be remembered that Hollow Knight began life through crowdfunding by an indie developer. RELATED: After Hollow Knight: Silksong, Team Cherry Could Go Full FromSoftware Hollow Knight's Development and Release Set A High Bar While it may have Hollow Knight's legacy to live up to, Silksong is still just an indie game that should have the chance to be seen for its own merits. The reason behind this could be because, unlike most other games, Silksong is being framed in an unfair context due to its pedigree and the current climate around game development. So it's unusual that Silksong would find itself at the center of constant scrutiny about if and when it will release, especially when the most recent updates from Team Cherry seem to indicate that it plans to launch Hollow Knight's sequel in the near future. But it's not entirely abnormal, as many successful and fan-favorite games have taken a long time to release, such as Final Fantasy 15, Team Fortress 2, or The Last Guardian which all took close to a decade to develop. Most recently, it was pointed out that Silksong had gone over 1600 days since its announcement which puts it among the company of few other games seemingly stuck in development limbo. Ever since its 2019 announcement, Hollow Knight: Silksong has found itself in a difficult position between Hollow Knight's own success and fan expectations where ordinary development delays have garnered it a notorious reputation in gaming.
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