Hollow Knight Silksong launch live: Steam down and other storefronts struggle as the game finally arrives

Welcome in!

Hello and happy Silksong release day-eve. The long awaited game will be out very soon indeed, allowing players to jump back into the vibrant and mysterious world of Hollow Knight. I’ll be covering the build up to launch, providing everything you need to know before jumping in. Once the game is out, you’ll get our up to date impressions, before a full review goes live next week.

What time does Silksong come out?

Map revealed

We got a good look at the Silksong map during the reveal trailer. It features areas like Deep Docks, Far Fields and Greymoor. It certainly looks like Hollow Knight to me, with a huge interconnected map with plenty of hidden routes and secret areas to explore.

Where can you play Hollow Knight Silksong?

Hollow Knight: Silksong launches on PS5, PS4, Switch 2, Switch, XSX|S, Xbox One, PC, Linux, and MacOS. This is certainly a wide spread, ensuring that pretty much everyone can get in on the fun. It’s great to see a day one release for Mac users too; quite rare, in my experience.

What I’m hoping to see from Silksong

Having looked through all of the gameplay trailers for Silksong, I’m thinking it’s going to be a very different game to its predecessor. This mostly comes from the change in protagonist. The knight from the first game felt like a real underdog; underpowered and up against the wall at all times. By comparison, Hornet is much more competent. She’s faster, has better traversal abilities, and should be more formidable in combat.

I’m hoping to see this shift in power dynamic translate to the boss battles. Will we still feel like David facing down Goliath? I’m hoping so, which would mean a change in how bosses measure up to the player in terms of power level. I’d also love to see some returning characters, but mostly I’m happy for Silksong to tell its own story.

Silksong is launching in Nintendo Switch 2

Silksong will launch on Nintendo Switch 2, as well as Switch. Personally, I’ll be picking the game up on Switch 2, making use of handheld mode to play on the go. I’ve always enjoyed Hollow Knight on portable devices, and hopefully Silksong will run well on the new hardware.

We consider Hollow Knight to be a “game of the (last) generation”

Where are the Silksong reviews?

Team Cherry has not sent out early copies of Silksong to reviewers. Everyone will be getting the game at launch, likely to honor the Kickstarter campaign supporters, and keep spoilers to a minimum. That means there won’t be any reviews for Silksong at launch. We’ll be following up some time next week with a review, so stay tuned to see how Silksong measures up to its predecessor.

Hollow Knight Silksong countdown

It’s now just under 23 hours until the release of Silksong. After years of waiting, fans will soon be able to dive into the fully-fledged sequel to Hollow Knight. Personally, I’ll be jumping in as soon as it goes live. Thankfully, it’s unlikely to be a big download.

Reach the kingdom’s peak

Hollow Knight: Silksong sees Hornet captured and brought to a whole new world. She then has to battle powerful insectoid foes, while uncovering mysteries and meeting new allies. The goal is to reach the kingdom’s peak, though that’s sure to be a very challenging journey indeed. From what we’ve seen so far, there’s areas to explore deep underground, and a fast-travel beetle like in the first game to speed up traversal.

That’s all for today

I’m signing off now until tomorrow morning. I’ll then be jumping back on, counting down the hours until release. Once Silksong is out, you’ll get my live impressions of the first couple of hours. See you there!

Silksong countdown – just 6 hours to go!

Hello and welcome back to my live coverage of today’s Silksong launch. We’re now just 6 hours away from the release of the Hollow Knight sequel, which has been top of the wishlists of many gamers over the last few years.

How much is Silksong going to cost?

There will be some enhancements for Nintendo Switch 2

You can preload Hollow Knight Silksong on the Xbox App

Let’s recap the Silksong release time

You’ll be able to download Silksong at the following times:

• United States (East Coast): 10AM ET
• United States (West Coast): 7AM PT
• United Kingdom: 3PM BST
• Central Europe: 4PM CEST
• Japan (Tokyo): 11PM JST
• Australia (Sydney): 12AM AEST (September 5)

Hollow Knight Silksong is Steam Deck verified

Those wanting to play Silksong on Steam Deck can rest easy, as the game is officially verified for Valve’s handheld device. This means it should work without issue. Elsewhere, you can play portably with the Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch. I’ll likely be picking Silksong up on PS5 Pro, and using the PlayStation Portal occasionally to test it handheld.

Silksong’s soundtrack has double the tracks of the first game’s

Three hours to go!

Hollow Knight Silksong launches in just three hours! It’ll go live at the same time for everyone, though hopefully it’ll be a small file size. You should be able to download it and jump in quickly. Of course, those on Xbox can make use of the cloud streaming to play right away.

Silksong PlayStation Store countdown

If you head to the PS Store page for Silksong, you can see a countdown clock. Follow along with this and you’ll know exactly when you can download the game on PS5 and PS4.

Just two hours until Silksong launches

Two hours to go until you can download and play Silksong. I’ll be picking it up immediately, and this blog will then be updated live with my thoughts and early impressions. As I’m handling the full review, you can consider that to be my review in progress.

Less than one hour to go

Jake here, signing back on. The wait for Silksong is nearly over. There’s less than an hour left until the game unlocks around the world, and we’ll all get our hands on this highly anticipated sequel. I’m certainly glad with the price point, which will no doubt be more than worth it for the hours and hours on gameplay on offer here.

Hollow Knight Silksong file size should be around 8GB

15 minutes until launch!

We’re now just 15 minutes away from the launch of Silksong. After many years of waiting, we’ll get to return to the world of Hollow Knight. There’s a whole new kingdom to explore this time around, with much of the game’s plot still an absolute mystery.

Silksong is out now!

Hollow Knight Silksong is finally here. Head to your storefront of choice and get it downloaded. I’ll now be playing the game’s first section, and will report back with early gameplay impressions. Until then, I’ll be handing things off to our Hardware Editor, Rhys Wood, who is also jumping into Silksong.

Looks like Steam’s having issues

Yeah, we kinda saw this coming. Steam servers are rammed right now, and the ‘Add to Cart’ button for the game is currently not working. We’ll keep you posted!

PS Store running into issues too!

Looks like the PlayStation Store listing might not actually be live yet, either!

What about Switch 2?

Yep, that about sums it up…

Struggling with other storefronts? Try GOG!

And we’re in!

GOG turned out to be the right call. Rhys here, and I’m officially in the game and the wait is over!

Steam goes down, and PS Store listing instantly crashes under Hollow Knight: Silksong demand

Over on the PlayStation side of things, the Silksong listing has disappeared entirely. On the PlayStation App, it’s still listed as “Wishlist”, so hasn’t been updated for the launch.

Silksong “There was a problem displaying this item” error

Some of the TRG team are still attempting to purchase Silksong on Steam, but have been greeted with a “There was a problem displaying this item” error. It seems that the listing for the Steam Store has broken due to overwhelming demand. I’ll update once this changes.

120hz output on Switch 2 TV Mode

Silksong has an option to enable 120hz on Nintendo Switch 2. Compatible displays can make use of this in TV Mode, though resolution will take a hit. This offers a massive upgrade on the Switch version, though players can upgrade the game version for free if they do end up picking up the new console.

Steam version added to cart

I’m now able to add Silksong to my cart. Hopefully, this will be the same for others trying to pick up the game on PC. Unfortunately, I’m still unable to move through to my cart to actually start the payment process.

Having just checked, the PS Store listing for Silksong is still unavailable.

Silksong is still not out on PlayStation

Over an hour after launch, Silksong is still unavailable on PlayStation. Over on Xbox, you can grab it easily as a subscriber. The Xbox store is a bit hit and miss, and I’ve had to refresh several times for the listing to load.

Impressions after an hour

Rhys here again! I’ve put an hour into Hollow Knight: Silksong now and I can confirm that it is indeed real. It is a game that you can play. And so far, so good.

Hornet controls brilliantly, with slick and responsive movement and animations. The ledge grab is a great addition, and you can initiate a stylish flip if you jump while ledge-grabbing. I’ve not found a practical use for this yet, but it’s awesome.

Environments are utterly gorgeous, from the verdant greens of the Moss Grove to the boney darkness of The Marrow. These introductory areas are visually distinct – already an improvement from the original game’s opening hours.

I’ve only fought one boss so far, and it was a simple one. Meanwhile, I’ve only just found this game’s map merchant about an hour in. Oh, and you still do need to purchase a compass trinket and assign it to Hornet’s crest in order to see yourself on the map. So get used to that.

Overall, though, I’m really enjoying Silksong so far, and I’m excited at the prospect of playing it for many, many more hours before credits roll.

Storefront update!

GOG, Nintendo eShop and the Xbox version of the Microsoft Store currently have no issues with Silksong purchases. However, Steam is still struggling; I can add the game to cart, but continuing to the payment is still a no-go. Meanwhile, the PlayStation Store still does not have the store page live for the game. Sorry, PS5 owners, but you might be waiting longer than anyone.

Avoid multiple Silksong refunds!

Some Steam users are reporting Silksong is being added to their carts multiple times over. This also happened to me, and was the result of the ‘Add to Cart’ button not working at the immediate time of launch.

So to avoid having to do a big Silksong refund, make sure to remove any duplicates in your cart before checking out!

Jake’s impressions on early gameplay

I’ve now had a bit of time to play Silksong on Nintendo Switch 2. It’s all definitely sharper than the first game in terms of graphics, and having the 120hz option is nice for when I’m playing on TV Mode later this evening.

I’m mostly surprised by Hornet’s dive attack ability, which moves in a diagonal direction towards enemies. This definitely takes some getting used to, but you can chain attacks in the air, bouncing around and between foes. I imagine this will lead to some complex combos later on in the game. It sure is lovely to return to Hollow Knight, and I’m excited to play more!

Yes, it’s overwhelmingly positive on Steam

So some fans have managed to breach the threshold and get Hollow Knight: Silksong downloaded on Steam. Whether these were Kickstarter backers or just lucky with checkout remains a mystery, but what isn’t as such is the game’s already ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ Steam rating.

At time of writing, over 1,500 people have put out a review to tell you that game indeed good. On the flipside, this is maybe why you shouldn’t rush to trust Steam reviews. Not that Silksong appears to be a poor quality product or anything, but being able to post a review within hours of a game’s release perhaps isn’t the best practice.

Then again, people are just having fun, so I’ll can it for now.

We’re signing off for now!

It’s the end of the work day, meaning we’ll be winding down our Silksong live coverage for now. However, we’ll be back at it again tomorrow morning (UK time) with more coverage and impressions as we spend the evening really getting stuck in with the game. We hope to see you there!

One last bit of information!

Silksong has *just* appeared on the PS Store! If that’s what you’re searching for, then here’s the link:

Otherwise, keep it steady, and tune in again here tomorrow for our review-in-progress.

Ciao for now!