Wednesday saw the latest Nintendo Indie World Showcase presentation debut, featuring a line-up of indie game releases planned through 2022 and beyond. The event saw the announcement of some exciting new indie games, like Doinksoft's Gunbrella, surprises like the release of a demo for Nerial's Card Shark, and updated release windows for games including Cult of the Lamb. What absolutely wasn't at today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase, unfortunately, was Hollow Knight: Silksong.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is, of course, the highly anticipated Metroidvania action game from Team Cherry. Initially announced in early 2019, Team Cherry has largely kept silent about Hollow Knight: Silksong's development in the years since. That hasn't stopped anticipation from building ever higher, though. Fans of the original Hollow Knight continue to pine for Silksong news, hoping that each Nintendo event will bring them what they most want to see. Today was not that day.
To be fair to both Nintendo and Team Cherry, any expectation that Hollow Knight: Silksong would appear at today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase was presumptuous at best. Hollow Knight: Silksong is a major console exclusive for the Nintendo Switch. While Nintendo's Indie World Showcases feature some excellent games, when Hollow Knight: Silksong re-debuts it's not going to be during a small event revealed less than 24 hours before it airs. Nintendo will give it the platform that Team Cherry has earned.
While there may not be any official word regarding when Team Cherry will share more information about Hollow Knight: Silksong, there are going to be multiple opportunities in the relatively near future. E3 may be canceled for 2022, but June is going to feature several major gaming shows as part of the Summer Game Fest. Gamescom is in August and is expected to be a very big event. Then in December, there will The Game Awards 2022, which Nintendo has used for major announcements in the past.
There's always a chance that Team Cherry simply needs more time, of course. The success of Hollow Knight can't be understated. That kind of success means Team Cherry has had ample opportunity to grow as a studio, and grow its ambition for Hollow Knight's sequel, too.
It's important to remember that Hollow Knight: Silksong was originally DLC, a Kickstarter stretch goal to add a second character. The development time needed for a full sequel versus a more straightforward expansion is massively different in scale. Team Cherry will bring back Hollow Knight: Silksong, if that's even the project's name anymore, when it's ready and not a day sooner.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for PC and Switch.