Hollow Knight Silksong has only been available to play for 5 days, and the discourse around this long awaited sequel has already caused a multitude of meltdowns from the access media, jealous indie devs, and even some players who are now decrying the game as "too hard." This title, which dropped two weeks after being announced at the 2025 Gamescom, has already been dubbed the "GTA 6 of Indie games," due to the immeasurable influence that the Hollow Knight franchise has had on indie gaming.
On the day that it launched, Silksong broke multiple online storefronts due to the extremely high number of downloads. Within a span of 5 days, the game reached 5 million total players and 3 million sales (yes, actual sales), in spite of releasing simultaneously on Gamepass, a service that has often been blamed for a loss in revenue for game studios. Silksong has been applauded for it's challenging gameplay and stunning art design, but most importantly, for it's $20 price tag. In a time where game prices continue to skyrocket due to bloated budgets and mismanaged timeframes, seeing a game of this quality release for less than it costs to fill up your gas tank is a welcome surprise.
Unfortunately for the small team of devs at Team Cherry, this has inadvertently painted a massive target on their backs. What started off as a love letter to their fans has now sparked an all out war between Indie devs who feel that Team Cherry did the entire industry a disservice simply by releasing a great game at a fair price. Many have begun to question the methodology employed by the Hollow Knight devs, claiming that they owed it to the Indie games market to give other devs a "heads up."
While this seems like nothing more than petty jealousy, it has predictably led to a multitude of headlines parroting this narrative by the access media. The games media already had reason enough to be hostile towards Team Cherry, as there were no review copies of this game sent out prior to release due to the devs wanting their backers to be the first to experience this long anticipated masterpiece.
What's more concerning, however, is the amount of backlash the game is receiving due to it's perceived difficulty. As someone who has played a wide variety of games for 35+ years, Silksong doesn't stand out to me to be remarkably different in terms of difficulty than many other games. Every game has it's own set of obstacles, learning curves, and challenges to overcome, and a great game will provide you with tools and skills to help you adapt to new challenges.
While the term "get good" has often been thrown around due to the unparalleled brutality and popularity of the Dark Souls franchise, it's not just a phrase that is intended to shame those whose skills may be lacking or for those who don't have the stomach for repeatedly failing; it is an adage that most gamers understand to mean that the greatest feeling of achievement will come after facing and defeating adversity.
Unfortunately for Team Cherry, many players have been unable to overcome Silksong's difficult learning curve. Now, in a recent blog post on Steam, the devs have announced an upcoming patch with a large amount of fixes and nerfs, the latter of which seems intended to soften the blow of the early game difficulty.
- Slight difficulty reduction in early game bosses Moorwing and Sister Splinter.
- Reduction in damage from Sandcarvers.
While it is unlikely that most people will notice these small tweaks, there will likely be a large contingent of gamers who are unhappy with this change. Many even feel that this patch will rob them of the experience of playing the devs' original vision for the game. It is entirely possible this patch has always been planned and isn't some kneejerk reaction by the devs to "make everyone happy." However, there will likely be plenty of skepticism in the coming weeks if this becomes a trend for Silksong.