Hollow Knight achieves new all-time peak player count on Steam following Silksong release date reveal

The 2017 indie blockbuster Hollow Knight has achieved a new all-time peak concurrent player count on Steam, achieving 23,840 players as of August 22, 2025. The game achieved this milestone following the long-awaited release date for its next installment, Hollow Knight: Silksong.

This surge comes days after Team Cherry revealed Hollow Knight: Silksong at Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 19, where it was announced that Silksong will launch globally on September 4, 2025. Hollow Knight: Silksong will release across PC, Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2, including day-one availability on Xbox Game Pass.

This new record beats the game's previous all-time high of 20,300 players in May 2022, which is an incredible resurgence for an indie title that is almost eight years old. The original installment boasts a user score of 97 percent, out of 418,758 reviews, earning the game an “Overwhelmingly Positive” status.

It’s not out of the question that players revisited the first entry in the franchise after Team Cherry released the two-minute trailer, showcasing new gameplay with Hornet, who will face off against 200 new enemies and 40 different bosses. The trailer has garnered almost 4 million views on YouTube with 458,000 likes.

A playable demo at Gamescom paired with the trailer reveal has further fueled what fans call “Silksanity”, putting an end to a six-year wait since the sequel was initially announced back in 2019.

So far, the demo features areas like Deep Rocks and Moss Grotto, and early hands-on players have praised the game’s refined combat and Hornet’s fluid acrobatic movement mechanics, while retaining the core Metroidvania gameplay and feel of the original installment.

Currently, Hollow Knight: Silksong is the most wishlisted game on Steam, standing at 4.8 million wishlists, dominated by users from the U.S. and China, following countries like Russia, Germany, Japan, and the U.K.

This is followed by Battlefield 6 as the second-most-wishlisted game on Steam, alongside ARC Raiders, Dying Light: The Beast, and Borderlands 4. 

While wishlists don’t practically translate into direct sales, it's expected that Hollow Knight: Silksong will potentially ship a few million units in its initial launch period, given that 2017’s Hollow Knight sold a total of 15 million units across all platforms in its lifetime. Despite the release date nearing, Team Cherry has yet to reveal a firm price, with fans speculating a retail price of $24.99.