Hollow Knight: Silksong Release Date Pushes Indie Developers to Delay Their Games
- Sagar Mankar
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Hollow Knight: Silksong has finally been given an official release date — September 4, 2025 — and its announcement has set off a chain reaction across the indie gaming scene.
While fans are excited about the long-awaited sequel, many smaller studios are shifting their own release windows to avoid going head-to-head with one of the most hyped games on Steam.
One of the first developers to shift their plans was Panik Arcade, the studio behind roguelike slot-machine title CloverPit. Originally scheduled for September 3, the game has now been delayed to September 26. The developers admitted the obvious, saying Silksong is “the most anticipated and wishlisted game on Steam” and that launching too close would “risk the launch of CloverPit a fair bit.” They also reassured fans that the extra time will go into polishing the game further.
Frogteam Games followed suit with their metroidvania Stomp and the Sword of Miracles. The team had planned to launch a demo on August 29 ahead of a Kickstarter campaign, but they decided to pull back after Silksong’s announcement. In a statement, the developer admitted: “Trying to market an indie game is already really, really hard. In the case of Silksong, however, I feel like a little krill trying to not get eaten by a blue whale. Tiny devs like me rely on word of mouth and streamers to bring in visibility, and everyone’s gonna be busy with Silksong for quite a while!”
Perhaps the most dramatic shift came from Aeternum Game Studios, makers of Aeterna Noctis. Their sequel, Aeterna Lucis, was originally targeting September but has now been delayed all the way to 2026. The team admitted competing with Silksong would be “unfair to our team’s effort” and to fans who deserve the "best conditions" for release. Interestingly, they expressed gratitude instead of frustration, noting that Team Cherry had been “one of the main inspirations” behind their series.
Even well-known creators are keeping an eye on the situation. Bennett Foddy, the mind behind Getting Over It, admitted he’s “talking about it” when it comes to whether his upcoming title, Baby Steps (currently set for September 8) might need a delay. “Silksong is the most-wishlisted game on Steam, despite being an indie game, so we really expect it to be the primary focus for a lot of people when it comes out,” he told Aftermath.
Still, not every developer is backing off, though. Indie studio Necrosoft is leaning into the chaos with their RPG Demonschool, still set for September 3. On Bluesky, the team joked: “Okay, sure, Silksong is going to sell millions of copies. But can you play it in 4:3 on your CRT like Demonschool!?” Studio head Brandon Sheffield added humorously, “How dare Team Cherry do this to me, personally.”
For now, the message is clear: many indie developers would rather delay than compete. And on September 4, when Hollow Knight: Silksong finally arrives, the entire gaming world — from small indie studios to major developers — will be watching closely.