Well, well, well. And just like that, after what has felt like eons filled with dedicated memes and collective gamers’ guilt, Hollow Knight Silksong has come out. Ahem, did I hear you? The wait went kaboom on Twitter by Game Awards, declaring the wait is now over and with that, Silksong. The kicker, though, is that with the recent controversy, is it really over?
The announcement on Twitter was plain-and-simple: “The wait is over. Hollow Knight Silksong is now available.” And it contained just a link after it. That’s it! Nowhere near launched excitement! Now after years of radio silence from Team Cherry, this is how we discover that Silksong has launched? A sodding tweet? From anticlimax to mastery-or confusing.
But quite frankly, the announcement isn’t quite the story. Oh no, the nuanced and stifling messiness lies in the aftermath. It’s like discovering at the very hour when the band’s not going to show up that somebody’s burning down the merch table.
Almost instantly, reports started to gush in from players saying how they never came across a window to actually buy the game. MPinzonGames: “Crashing Steam, literally, at launch 😂”. Another user, bluwar89, just said, “No it’s not, it crashed all the online stores.” So the game is available… and unavailable at the same time. Makes complete sense.
Confusion hangs in the air like frustration. FaceDidNotLoad stated, “No it ain’t,” and that sums up the feeling on the whole. MeklordPrime claimed, “Lies, not available on the PSN store.” While Raouette might be sounding reasonable, “when this will be available on PS5 store?” Slow your roll; it’s not even properly out on PC yet.
Hey! Not everything is gloom and doom here. Some have actually managed to punch through the digital debris and get those copies in hand. Codes19951 is already playing: “It’s so good holy shit.” So it exists! It’s real! According to Vivi to someone’s comment, “The fight is over, I just purchased it, and a lot of other people seem to have as well.” Therefore, some light will shine on the rest of us in the near future.
Oh, and then there are those happy souls reveling in the art. Torafuku said: “Hornet design is so simple yet so perfect,” and, yeah, fair enough. She’s iconic for a good reason.
This, however, is the real mess. This launch has become the main feature, but one that almost seems expected, with all this unmet demand. Servers got hugged to death. It’s a rite of passage for any truly hyped game. Remember Cyberpunk 2077 launch? Or any big MMO expansion? This is just the indie way.
The cosiest part has to be the timing. Why announce an event like this? With no warning? No pre-order period? Just… it’s out. Go get it. Except you can’t. It almost feels like one random guy from Team Cherry woke up and hit the “release” button and went back to bed, without telling anyone, including their own servers.
And of course, the obligatory comparisons to other games with long waits had to show up. DjCaptainPlus hit us with the “Meanwhile, Half-Life fans” with a crying emoji. Too soon, dude.
So what is going on for real? Well, nowadays, it seems that Hollow Knight Silksong is technically able to be purchased, but media storefronts are falling apart under the weight of thousand upon thousand of people trying to buy it all at once. I guess it’s a good problem to have if you’re a developer. It means people want your game. A lot.
So far, it looks from the handful of reviewers who’ve actually managed to get access to it that everyone who made it past the digital veil of death has some praise to throw its way. At least from some of those who saw it, so there’s a silver lining in this frustrating tunnel. The game is supposed to be here, and it’s supposed to be great. We just have to… wait a little bit longer to wait for the wait to be over. The irony is thicker than maple syrup.
So maybe check back in a few hours. Or tomorrow. The game’s probably not going anywhere. Probably. Unless servers completely explode. So, at this pace, still on the table. What a day to be a gamer.
