Hollow Knight: Silksong Launch Overwhelms Digital Stores
The highly anticipated sequel to the 2017 indie hit Hollow Knight, Hollow Knight: Silksong, went live Thursday morning, but eager players faced major trouble downloading the game as digital stores struggled under the overwhelming demand.
The game became available at 10 a.m. ET, yet platforms including the Nintendo Switch eShop, Steam, and the PlayStation Store experienced temporary outages as thousands rushed to purchase it. In an unusual move, Nintendo even took its eShop offline for maintenance—a measure typically reserved for broader system issues rather than a single game launch.
On social media, frustrated gamers shared screenshots of crashes and error messages while attempting to buy Silksong. The situation was worsened by the lack of pre-orders or preloading, meaning everyone tried to access the game at once.
Despite the rocky start, most players can now download the game, though occasional errors are still being reported. The £20 price tag, combined with the lasting popularity of the original Hollow Knight, helped fuel the frenzy.
The launch was so significant that several indie developers even postponed their own releases to avoid clashing with Silksong, highlighting the impact of the game on the wider gaming community.
For fans, the release marks the end of a long wait, filled with months of silence from the developers and a surge of excitement in recent weeks. While the rollout tested the limits of digital storefronts, it also underscored Hollow Knight: Silksong’s extraordinary appeal and cemented its place as one of the decade’s most talked-about indie titles.
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