According to SteamDB, the indie Metroidvania game Hollow Knight: Silksong reached a peak concurrent player count of 562,814 on Steam, with more than 412,000 active players remaining stable at the time of reporting. Developed by the three-person Australian team Team Cherry, the game quickly entered Steam’s Top 20 all-time peak player count rankings after launch.
The title was simultaneously released on Xbox Game Pass, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5, attracting millions of players and nearly overwhelming digital storefronts during launch. Steam, Nintendo eShop, and PlayStation Store all experienced delays due to surging downloads. On Steam alone, the game has already received over 41,000 reviews, with 90% rated as “Very Positive”, and it has 448,000 followers on SteamDB.
Launched officially on September 4, 2025, the game’s release triggered massive player influxes, causing crashes and slowdowns across Steam, Xbox Store, PlayStation Store, and Nintendo eShop. Error monitoring reported over 110,000 issue reports on Steam within the first day, with concurrent players quickly jumping from 110,000 to over 500,000.
However, in the Chinese region, the game’s approval rating has already dropped below 50%, largely due to heavy criticism of its Simplified Chinese localization. Players complained the translation reads like a confusing mix of Classical and modern Chinese, making the story nearly incomprehensible. Some even remarked that “AI tools like Doubao produce better translations than this version.”
Matthew Griffin, the game’s marketing and publishing lead, acknowledged the issue on X (formerly Twitter), promising improvements to the Simplified Chinese translation over the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the previous title Hollow Knight (2017) has sold around 15 million copies worldwide, with an additional 12 million sold following the announcement of Silksong. This financial success ensured Team Cherry faced no funding concerns during development of the sequel.
Overall, Silksong has launched with immense popularity, record-breaking performance, and strong positive reception, positioning it as one of the most successful indie game sequels to date, igniting both industry attention and player enthusiasm.
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