Hollow Knight: Silksong crosses half a million players, numbers continue to surge

Indie Metroidvania title, Hollow Knight: Silksong, has managed to capture a peak of 562,814 concurrent players on Steam and is holding steady at 412,000 active users, according to SteamDB. Team Cherry’s three-person Australian team delivered a sequel that immediately topped Steam’s all-time top 20 and even surpassed the original by a large margin.

Hollow Knight: Silksong’s $19.99 price and simultaneous release on Xbox Game Pass, Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 drew millions more players, overwhelming all major storefronts during launch. Steam, Nintendo eShop, and PlayStation Store alike reported server delays due to surging downloads. Meanwhile, the player engagement has been backed by over 41,000 Steam reviews, 90% of which are rated “very positive,” and 448,000 followers on SteamDB.

To add to the hype, popular streamers and esports personalities played the title, which resulted in Silksong reaching 362,000 combined Twitch viewers. In fact, it became the eighth-most-watched category in its first 24 hours.

With reviews and player numbers consistently above 410,000 days after launch, Silksong has set a new template for successful indie debuts in an increasingly competitive market. Future indie titles will likely build on this example, furthering expectations for gameplay, pricing, and launch strategy across the industry.