‘Hollow Knight: Silksong’ shatters Steam records

Screenshot of in-game stage with protagonist Hornet superimposed center-foreground.

Most of us already knew Team Cherry’s highly anticipated Metroidvania, Hollow Knight: Silksong, was certain to be something special, but according to new Steam data, the indie sensation has surpassed half a million concurrent players just 24 hours after its release.

New figures from Steam data aggregator SteamDB show the indie darling has already reached an all-time player peak of 549,068 players at the time of writing. These figures put the sequel at No. 18 on Steam’s most-played games list. Like, ever.

Fan excitement led digital game distributors — Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo eShop — to display intermittent error messages or crash altogether.

SteamDB data for 'Hollow Knight: SIlksong' (9/5/25 10:15 AM EST)
Image Credit: Team Cherry.

Right now, Silksong is Steam’s top-selling download as well as its most-wishlisted; nearly 500,000 Steam users “follow” Silksong on the platform, an increase of nearly 100,000 in the last week. It’s also currently the top-played Steam Deck title; the sequel bumped its 2017 predecessor from the top spot down to No. 2.

In just one day, Silksong has garnered more than 41,000 unique Steam user reviews. At the time of writing, 18,533 of the game’s 20,176 English reviews are “Overwhelmingly Positive” — about 92% of all English reviews.

Over on Amazon-owned live-streaming platform Twitch, more than 126,000 unique viewers are currently watching their go-to streamer play the game. Almost immediately after Silksong‘s launch, however, nearly 360,000 Twitch users were simultaneously tuned in.

SteamDB data for 'Hollow Knight: SIlksong' (9/5/25 10 AM EST)
Image Credit: SteamDB.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is the long-awaited sequel to Team Cherry’s 2017 smash hit, Hollow Knight. In the game, players join Hornet, a former royal from the since-fallen kingdom of Hallownest. The first game was heralded for its atmospheric worlds, challenging but rewarding puzzles, and its captivating, goosebump-raising OST. 

According to a recent article from Bloomberg‘s Jason Schreier, Hollow Knight has sold 15 million copies since its 2017 launch, making the Team Cherry project one of the best-selling independent titles in the medium’s history. As prices associated with gaming continue their upward creep, a $20 blockbuster is few and far between. With cost-prohibitive AAA titles launching anywhere from $69 to $99, conservative consumers can embark on a viral adventure with less financial strain.

We’ll likely see an even larger jump in player count as we head into the weekend. In case you missed it, check out Team Cherry’s pre-release trailer here:

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A lifelong gamer raised on classic titles like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Croc, Stephanie brings her expertise of gaming and pop culture to deliver unique, refreshing views on the world of video games, complete with references to absurd and obscure media.

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