Hollow Knight: Silksong has finally arrived, and players have flocked to it in record-breaking numbers. Within hours of release on September 4, the long-awaited sequel rocketed past 535,000 concurrent players on Steam, obliterating the original game’s peak count and proving just how big this moment is for Team Cherry.
A Launch Years in the Making
Fans had been waiting since 2019 for Silksong, which began life as planned DLC before expanding into a full standalone sequel. The hype reached fever pitch this summer when the release date was revealed, setting the stage for one of the most anticipated indie launches in gaming history.
That excitement boiled over the moment the game unlocked at 10 a.m. EST. Demand was so high it crashed multiple storefronts — from Steam to Xbox, PlayStation, and the Nintendo eShop — leaving many players locked out of buying the game. But for those who made it through, the player count speaks volumes.
Breaking Records on Steam
According to SteamDB, Silksong quickly shot to over 535,000 concurrent players within hours, dwarfing Hollow Knight’s all-time peak of around 71,000. It’s a meteoric leap that underscores just how much the community has grown in the years since the original’s release.
And that’s just one platform. Silksong is also available on Xbox Game Pass, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation, meaning the true number of players diving in on launch day is significantly higher than Steam’s numbers reveal.
Hollow Knight’s Second Wind
Interestingly, the original Hollow Knight also saw a surge in popularity leading up to the sequel’s release. After the August release date reveal, players flocked back to Hallownest, pushing its concurrent count higher and higher until it peaked at over 71,000 just days before Silksong dropped. Some were replaying to refresh their memories, while others were experiencing the indie classic for the first time.
A Milestone Moment for Indie Gaming
Silksong’s explosive launch shows how far Team Cherry’s creation has come. What began as a crowdfunded indie title in 2017 has grown into a cultural juggernaut capable of crashing platforms and drawing in half a million players on day one.
As servers stabilise and more players finally get their hands on the game, those numbers are only expected to rise. For fans who have waited years, it’s not just a release — it’s a landmark moment in indie gaming history.