'I Guess Silksong Is Just That Respected': After Hollow Knight: Silksong Was Cracked at Launch, Pirates Are Urging Each Other to Buy Instead — and Some Can't Believe What They're Seeing

The splash harm caused by Hollow Knight: Silksong’s monolithic motorboat interaction has dispersed beyond immense Steam concurrents and struggling storefronts to the parts of the net wherever video crippled pirates bent retired — and determination thing absorbing is happening: the pirates are urging each different to bargain the crippled alternatively of downloading the cracked version.

Team Cherry’s hotly anticipated Hollow Knight sequel yet came retired connected September 4, 2025 priced $20, six years aft it was announced, and instantly crashed storefronts including Steam.

As the storefronts recovered, subordinate numbers swelled to the constituent wherever Silksong deed an unthinkable motorboat time highest of 535,213 concurrent players connected Steam, capable to marque it the 18th most-played crippled ever connected Valve’s platform. The existent subordinate number crossed each platforms volition beryllium overmuch higher.

Silksong besides launched DRM-free connected GOG, truthful it was nary astonishment to spot a cracked mentation disposable to download successful the hours aft launch. What was a astonishment was the effect from immoderate seasoned video crippled pirates, who urged their peers to enactment Team Cherry and bargain the crippled instead.

“First crippled I've bought time of merchandise successful a decennary probably,” said pyrokzg connected the piracy subreddit successful effect to a thread upvoted 7,000 times. “Not adjacent the decennary for me. It's the precise first,” added Vamsi-Thopu.

So, wherefore is this happening? Clearly, determination is simply a immense magnitude of goodwill from crossed the net directed astatine Team Cherry, the tiny indie developer that saw the archetypal Hollow Knight stroke up to specified an grade that it was capable to instrumentality its merry clip with this ambitious sequel.

But there’s besides a feeling that Team Cherry does things the close way. For a start, there’s a DRM-free mentation disposable astatine launch, but the Australian workplace was besides keen to grant the promises it made with its archetypal Hollow Knight Kickstarter each those years ago. There’s adjacent a escaped upgrade for the Nintendo Switch 2 version. In short, Team Cherry are the bully guys, and the feeling is they merit their success.

“It's a 3-4 idiosyncratic squad that has done close by their fans astatine each turn,” said No-Shape6053, besides connected the piracy subreddit. “Making definite the PC merchandise is DRM free. Making definite each archetypal backers of Hollow Knight get Silksong escaped connected their prime of platform. This is simply a clip wherever if we tin spend to enactment them, we should.”

“Support the devs if you can, they merit it,” added iTzNowbie. There’s plentifulness much wherever that came from, too. “The lone crippled I volition consciousness atrocious if I ever pirated it,” said beastfire24. “Hey the crippled is beauteous cheap. This one, we should not pirate,” said Sythrin.

Interestingly, immoderate person expressed astonishment astatine the corporate impulse not to pirate Silksong, which itself prompted a treatment astir wherefore this is happening with Silksong but hasn’t happened with likewise beloved indie games successful the past.

“Usually radical present assertion that the title, price, oregon the indie presumption makes nary quality to them, but I conjecture that Silksong is conscionable that respected,” offered MixaLv.

“I’m amazed too,” added ALIIERTx. “Many times radical are like, ‘I don’t attraction if I pirate from indie developer,’ but connected this 1 everyone is beauteous antiaircraft against piracy. I’m fascinated.”

Responses to this reenforce the Team Cherry angle. "Team Cherry has built themselves an astonishing reputation," suggested Someone_Existing_1. "Because they’re lone a three-person studio, they tin support their games ace inexpensive owed to acold little employees needing pay. Also they aren’t greedy f***s similar astir companies, truthful their DLCs are each escaped and there’s nary microtransactions oregon online-only bulls**t."

Be definite to cheque retired IGN's Silksong coverage, which includes the communicative of the superfan down the YouTube Channel Daily Silksong News, who tin yet remainder aft an unthinkable 1,693 days of videos.

Starting retired Silksong? Here's however to unlock and usage the map, however to get Rosary Beads, the Achievements and Trophies list, and our ever expanding Silksong Interactive Map. Also, you whitethorn request the Bell Beast brag combat guide. It's a hard one!

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Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].