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Matthew Griffin (Marketing & Publishing for Hollow Knight: Silksong) gives an update on the game

Update

Matthew Griffin (Marketing & Publishing for Hollow Knight: Silksong) gives an update on the game today. Here's his full quote since the title is a bit long for the word limit:

Hey gang, just a quick update about Silksong.

We had planned to release in the 1st half of 2023, but development is still continuing. We're excited by how the game is shaping up, and it's gotten quite big, so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can.

Expect more details from us once we get closer to release.

Twitter Source:

https://twitter.com/griffinmatta/status/1656106351184199680

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u/Milskidasith avatar

It's not too weird or anything since plenty of big projects exist in total secrecy but I find it extremely funny that the most concrete information we've gotten for Silksong is an Ozymandias style "delays? Gamers, we already delayed it months ago"

u/JeanVicquemare avatar

it reminds me of how FromSoftware was silent about whether Elden Ring would have DLC for a year, then finally posted an announcement basically just saying "Yes, we're making it" with no further information whatsoever, and they haven't mentioned it again since. They're probably taking the right approach, too. Say as little as possible until it's done

"no further information"?

People made 2 hour video analysing the picture with the DLC Name :D.

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It's the sequel to the incredible hollow knight. No one will begrudge them extended time developing no matter the delays.

Certainly beats the unfinished games the AAA releases these days for us to beta test for them.

u/toomuchradiation avatar

When it comes to sequels to masterpieces it's better to be safe than sorry. Expectations are already high so you don't want to raise them even higher.

u/Hoojiwat avatar

Same thing with Tears of the Kingdom. Zelda team has been almost completely radio silent because they're like "the game is about exploration and lateral problem solving. You can learn about it on your own."

After how well BotW sold and was received they figure people trust them to do it again.

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Exactly, we can't have it both ways. So many games come out completely unfinished, and everyone is up in arms at these devs. I've got no problem waiting until the game is done and ready to release.

I mean thats fair if you’re a regular consumer, but for anyone who kickstarted this was actually just supposed to be a side story dlc to the main game. A lot of people backed specifically to unlock that stretch goal, and that was nearly 10 years ago.

So while they are going above that original promise, I’ll say any backers would feel totally right in saying they should have scoped down a bit and delivered by now.

I do wonder what would have happened if the third character dlc had been funded. Imagine how long that would be.

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u/DMonitor avatar

I think it’s a little dishonest for kickstarter backers who paid for an alternate character a la Richter in SotN, but instead have to wait close to a decade for a sequel.

On the one hand, yes. On the other hand, I don't know a single kickstarter supporter of this game that doesn't prefer this outcome. The original game and kickstarter were incredible value, and I think everyone would prefer another game of that quality as opposed to that stretch goal.

It’s a little bit unfair, but the intention obviously wasn’t to be dishonest. Playable Hornet just didn’t work in the existing levels.

I think at a certain point you have to accept the 2 free DLCs as reasonable compensation for scrapping that stretch goal. These things are bound to happen with Kickstarter.

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u/jerrrrremy avatar

Yeah, as a Kickstarter backer, I'm completely devastated that I'm getting an entirely new game instead of an alternate character for a game I have already played through three times. Thank you for your kind words during this difficult time.

u/Act_of_God avatar

Im sure they will manage

u/arthurormsby avatar

I think kickstarter backers should probably have a greater awareness of the inherent risk and unpredictability of game development.

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At least we can play them now. I finished Cyberpunk just a month or two after release because on PC it worked quite fine. I am playing Jedi Survivor now. It has issues but is quite enjoyable. Silk Road... years and years go by and nothing. My niece and nephew were excited about it as small kids, they will be halfway through college before it releases.

u/Workacct1999 avatar

Team Cherry is a small team and Hollow Knight sold a ton, so I doubt they are under any financial pressure to ship it before they are satisfied with it. Which is a good thing.

u/MedalsNScars avatar

I love when people are shocked to learn that it takes 3 people a long time to make something on the scale and quality of Hollow Knight while also developing 3 big free DLCs for Hollow Knight.

It's obvious playing the original that a lot of love and care went into that game and I'm happy to wait if that means they get to put together something as good or better.

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u/fade_like_a_sigh avatar

No one will begrudge them extended time developing no matter the delays.

Unfortunately it's brought out some really gross parts of the community, I don't browse the subreddit as much anymore because it used to just be cool art and experiences but now it's regularly people bitching and whining that the devs don't market the game or give fake release dates more.

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u/grokthis1111 avatar

Elden ring didn't have a ton of info on it for a long time either.

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u/Fastela avatar

Studios have learned about the catastrophe of the community hyping up a game, like we all did with HL3. I guess it's something that was still doable back when gaming press was a thing, but in the internet age it's just a call for disaster.

u/Time-Ladder4753 avatar

Isn't it obvious with it having deluxe edition like DS3?

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u/ashinroy86 avatar

And multiple trailers and that gameplay demo they showed with Nintendo that was 9 minutes long or whatever. The fact that they showed what looked like a nearly finished game is probably what made the wait feel so interminable.

u/Accomplished_Sound28 avatar

I think they announced the game a tad too early. Waiting 5 or more years for a game release is a pain.

u/Tiropat avatar

This has been announced sense they hit a stretch goal to make a 2nd playable character with their own unique quests and abilities in the kick starter in 2014, and we have known the character is hornet sense then.

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u/BloederFuchs avatar

It's not too weird or anything since plenty of big projects exist in total secrecy

Well, sure, but then maybe shouldn't have announced it more than four years ago?

u/duckwantbread avatar

They basically had to do that though because playable Hornet in Hollow Knight was meant to be a Kickstarter stretch goal, that idea got scrapped in favour of making a whole new game starring Hornet (all Kickstarter backers will get the game for free since it's technically the Hornet stretch goal they backed). When people have backed your game and you've promised them something you're going to get accused of not fulfilling your promises if you don't at least explain why the goal will now take so long to fulfill.

u/Just_trying_it_out avatar

Why? They said they’re making it, and they are

I personally appreciated knowing that hollow knight will get a sequel. And then a release date (or cancellation) are the only updates I need

If they were stringing people along with constant release date announcements and then delays it’d be annoying but they haven’t, so w/e I guess

u/BannedSvenhoek86 avatar

For real, I hated Fromsofts insistence on not even announcing they were working on DLC because it just made that the only topic in the community for months. Say you're working on it, be honest with a timetable, and then go make it. Don't need constant dev updates and shit, but it's nice to know it's on the way at least.

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"Ozymandias"

Hey, that's me.

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u/LMHT avatar

Marketing job for Silksong? What a chill job that must be, guy's had a 5 year break.

u/ShesJustAGlitch avatar

Haha I laughed when I saw his title too, not that it isn’t important but uhh… what does a marketing person do for years between releases lol

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I'm glad I played hollow knight this year instead of on release cause I bet the wait has been awful for fans.

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I got into it last year in early September, but I'm also a Half-Life fan, so I'm used to waiting :)

u/ItachiSan avatar

I've got heat death of the universe over HL3 by like a 3:1 margin

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u/United-Aside-6104 avatar

It’s alright Zelda is in under 100 hours that game will keep me busy

You can get it in like 48 hours

48 < 100

Do you have any proof for a claim so bold?

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u/SoloSassafrass avatar

You can get it now if you really want.

u/inactive_directory avatar

You can get it now ;)

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Incredible game. They built off of so many systems.

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The fandom as a whole went through the grief cycle and came out the other side. Last I checked, r/hollowknight fully snapped and decided that Silksong actually did come out months ago.

u/Novawurmson avatar
Edited

I backed the original Kickstarter. The Hornet campaign was a stretch goal.

Edit: Someone asked if I was getting it with my backing. Yes, Team Cherry has already announced that original Hollow Knight backers will get Silksong for free.

Edit: Found it. It's in the original Silksong announcement.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/11662585/hollow-knight/posts/2416131

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It's not so much the wait as it is the near complete radio silence...

u/NeverFreeToPlayKarch avatar

I admire their iron will in that regard. The benefits of being a smaller company. Most large publishers/devs wouldn't be able to hold back.

u/GaleTheThird avatar

Dropping a tweet to confirm what Microsoft said last year ("yes, Silksong will be out in the next year") would've gone a long way to makes people happy

u/NeverFreeToPlayKarch avatar

Microsoft said that Silksong (and all the other games showcased last June) would be out by June of THIS year. They're specifically coming out to say that won't be the case.

u/GaleTheThird avatar

I'm aware of that. I'm saying that TC should've dropped a tweet confirming what Microsoft said in June of last year

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u/itstimefortimmy avatar

not a fan but I thought the game felt closer to awful than great. combat was alright, the exploration made me quit the game twice, haven't felt the need to go back

u/fishflo avatar

Between the two games I already played this year that will probably be better than silksong, and at least one more coming out that probably will be as well, hot take I know, I am coming to care less and less. 2023 has a lot of great games. Hollow Knight is not the gift from god people make it out to be it's just a very good metroidvania I saw on release day on steam and impulse bought because of the art style many many years ago. I'd love to play Silksong but at this rate if it's competing with Elden Ring dlc for my attention or a PC release of FFXVI it will just end up with another pretend delay of my own making. I just wish Team Cherry would commit to a date instead of stringing people along, they should not have done that 2019 trailer if they planned on being so radio silent aside from 2 or 3 "soon™" spaced with such cadence that it decidedly becomes an ongoing lie. People see the gameplay trailer and think "game is almost done". At least GRRM has a blog. Team Cherry is living rent free in the extremely irritating zone between "any day now" and "actually just not happening for 2+ years so just forget it" and they have been for the last four years. Take your time or whatever but this shit is annoying.

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I find it funny that we have two game sequels that were originally planned as DLC ended up becoming two of the longest development cycles in recent memory.

u/United-Aside-6104 avatar

Funnily enough even prior to April Nintendo still was more vocal about Totk than Team Cherry with Silksong

Edited

By mid-April they really are supposed to start revealing more details about the game if they confirmed to release it on June. I know they are indie devs and they'll prefer to reveal stuff closer to release to cut marketing cost but Silksong is also most anticipated indie game for years so a month or 2 of marketing hype is a smart idea.

But who knows. People will be certainly busy with TOTK and FFXVI until June so Team Cherry are probably just being careful to make sure they'll not be overshadowed by bigger IPs.

u/douchey_sunglasses avatar

silksong isn’t releasing in June, this comment reads like you think that it is

u/CamelRacer avatar

People are REALLY trusting that XBox showcase about "all in the next year" marketing BS.

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Eeh not really, for Silksong we had a complete 20 minute gameplay demo since what, 2019?

That's probably still more official footage than what we have of TotK 2 days before release

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u/LeConnor avatar

What’s the other game?

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Silksong and Tears of the Kingdom. Both were supposed to just be DLC, both went on to become full fledged sequels with extensive development periods.

Was the TotK thing actually confirmed? Or just speculation?

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Tears of the Kingdom uses all the ideas the team had for DLC, so instead of making it a DLC they made it into a sequel instead.

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u/Kered13 avatar

I thought he might have been talking about Cuphead: Delicious Last Course. It didn't become a full game, but it did take 5 years to develop.

Ah I thought he was referencing God of War Ragnarok. I think that one was going to be DLC, which explains that absurd initial release window.

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u/WiteXDan avatar

Katana Zero

I also thought about Katana Zero at first.

u/richajf avatar

Same. I'm very much looking forward to it, but I'm okay with the devs taking their time and getting it right.

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BotW -> TotK.

u/Pires007 avatar
Edited

How do you even make this type of statement. TOTK isn't even out yet. Even if it was, you would need some time to pass to truly compare the games.

Edit: I'm a dumbass

That’s an arrow, not a greater than

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u/Gramernatzi avatar

If Half-Life 3 ever releases and is an expanded version of Episode 3 like people expect, that'd probably take the cake.

u/KennethHaight avatar

Worst thing about TotK is that even with that extra long dev cycle, it still feels like a half baked DLC. Pretty disappointing. Could see Silksong ending up in the same boat.

Have you already played it?

The game ain't even out.

u/javalib avatar

It's possible they've played it (it leaked) but their opinion is the opposite of everyone else's I've seen so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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u/Miskykins avatar

It most certainly does not feel like a half baked DLC holy shit what a shit take. I got a solid 70 hours in TotK already and it's a full ass game and it's damn incredible.

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u/ManateeofSteel avatar

interesting that this doesn't even hint at a 2023 release anymore. Ohwell, it's bound to be a banger so it doesn't matter when it launches

u/Android19samus avatar

it doesn't hint at a later date either, though. Really we're back to zero information other than "a year ago, they thought they had a year left" and "it's not close enough to give a new release date"

Could be end of the year. Could be longer.

u/FloppyDysk avatar

Theyre suggesting that its still in active development rather than polishing/testing/bugfixing. Which kind of implies theyre not even close.

u/Android19samus avatar

HK was developed with polish being done as they went, allowing them to rapidly transition from "active development" to release. Silksong may be more demanding in that regard since it appears to have more systems, but not so much to assume that the QA tail would extend beyond six months.

u/FloppyDysk avatar

Hollowknight also released in a very buggy, borderline unfinished state. Many people seem to forget this. For the first month or so the game was very rough around the edges. Theyve gone on record saying that it was largely because the game was a smash hit that they were able to iron out the kinks to make the game into what everyone knows it as today.

As a week one purchaser, they definitely could have benefited from a month or two of bugfixing before release on hollowknight and not sticking so strictly to a "polish as you go" philosophy.

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Praying for a shadow drop. I know, I'm delusional.

u/ItsJustReeses avatar

It's what they essentially did with the original right? Said "Hey releases in 2 weeks" and did so.

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Silksong has become the "A Song of Ice and Fire" of game dev progress.

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I don't even care anymore. If it comes out, it comes out.

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It kinda does. Notice how they specify the first half of 2023. It’s possible we’ll still hear something for a late 2023 release.

u/pilgermann avatar

Possible, but the phrase "shaping up" does not sound like they're polishing a nearly finished product.

It's very possible the game has been rescoped twice, fist from being an expansion and second from being Hollow Knight 2 in essence. That is, they might have found some inspiration that forced them to toss a nearly complete game more than once.

u/aRandomBlock avatar

A QA did say that the game is "glorious" and "worth the wait" so i definitely think it's at the polishing phase which usually takes a long time

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One thing to keep in mind is they've also not confirmed any dlc. It's very likely they're trying to cram in as many possible dlc stuff as they can so they can move on to their next project after release(evidenced by the "Fearless Fox" trademark they filed and interviews saying they don't want to keep working only on HK).

u/douchey_sunglasses avatar

I don’t really see how supposed DLC factors into an unreleased game with no updates, there’s no reason to believe they were ever planning dlc

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They specified that as its on Game Pass and the announcement for that was last Summer when Xbox proclaimed "All Games shown available in the next 12 Months"

u/Falsus avatar

Since they didn't mention anything about any date I assume it is on a ''delayed until we are sure it is ready this time'' basis.

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u/douchey_sunglasses avatar

If they aren’t ready to announce a release date now as all companies are about to make E3 style announcements for holiday 2023 and beyond, it’s likely that they end up pushing to 2024. There is no chance this game releases this summer.

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Its three guys trying to make a sequel to one of the most revered and beloved indie games ever made, I can totally understand that taking a lot of time.

Plenty of other bangers dropping this year in the meantime!

u/Zagden avatar

Huh? It's three guys? Why would they ever want to do that?

Mind you I only have surface level knowledge of Hollow Knight but I was wondering why a 2D action sidescroller was taking so long to make. From a layman's perspective they seem like relatively simple games to make compared to others

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u/asdiele avatar

Hollow Knight was also gigantic, that game had so much content it's ridiculous. They're not gonna want to release a smaller game as a sequel, if anything they'll likely try to go even bigger.

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Think Dark Souls layouts but in 2D. Every map is interconnected and most of the lore is shown through the environment.

u/douchey_sunglasses avatar

dark souls was 3d, and while unfinished, developed in half the time this one has taken

u/Zeeboon avatar

It was also made by a team of at least 50-70 people, probably more. It also wasn't hand-drawn, meaning it's much easier to reuse assets.
Hollow Knight/Silksong is made by 1 artist, 1 designer and 1 programmer (and 1 composer). Not even remotely a fair comparison.

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We're excited by how the game is shaping up, and it's gotten quite big,
so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can.

This is what I expected was happening. The delays aren't because of some internal issue, it's because Team Cherry wants to put as much content and polish into the game as possible. They aren't some big AAA studio which has separate divisions and a strict timeline. It's a handful of people, probably coming up with new ideas constantly.

The game will be done when it's done. Though the fact that they planned to release in the first half of 2023 makes me hopeful that they're almost finished.

u/DellSalami avatar

I’m pretty sure I read before that this is exactly how development of the first game went as well. They just kept working on it and adding stuff until they went “yeah this is a complete game now” and launched it

Not exactly, then wanted the first game to be larger and more ambitious, but then runned out of money and needed to ship the game. Then depended a lot of meals from a lady goodwill.

This is why they are taking time, they can afford it this time and said it will release adding all they wanted.

u/secret759 avatar

I just hope it isnt a Frank Ocean scenario where it turns out having deadlines and accountability was the only thing making them actually release anything, and now that they have free reign the perfectionism goes out of control and we barely hear from them again.

I don’t think that will be the case based on what we saw 2 years ago already looks like a fleshed out, functioning game. Think about the timeframe for the DLCs for Hollow Knight, they took months (over a year in total I think if when you combine them all) to add a handful of boss fights and new areas to the game. So their process is just slow and steady, but meticulous because while those DLCs may have been small, they are some of the best content in the whole game.

We will have to wait to see.

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Edited

Delays aren't always a good thing. At a certain point you just need to start cutting content and release a game. Silksong doesn't need to be a 50 hour long game and adding more content will just make it bloated.

The problem with the delays is that it just builds higher expectations, if they had released the game a couple of years after Hollow Knight as intended then it would've been considered amazing just for being more Hollow Knight. But now they have to have something to show for how long it's took to develop and I'm not sure it will ever live up to what people imagine.

Edit: I'm not saying the game won't be good or that the delays can't ultimately make the game better, but I'm offering a different perspective and the idea that maybe these delays have built up the hype a little too much. So don't just downvote because I'm not completely positive on the oh so great Hollow Knight.

Its the Half Life 3 problem, if Valve ever get to making it, it needs to be pretty groundbreaking, I personally don't think they ever be able to make HL3 and meet peoples expectations

u/SnevetS_rm avatar

Why should they care about meeting people's insane expectations? As long as it is not a Duke Nukem Forever scenario, the game would still be highly rated and sell well (see Doom 3, for example).

Ah I’m glad you brought up Duke Nikes Forever, now if you put that game back at its original release date, it would have been incredible and received great reviews etc, but because of how long it was delayed it was outdated and multiple games had left that in the dust

Now I’m not saying that would happen with HL3 as it’s not in development as far as we know but interesting to note

u/SnevetS_rm avatar

Ah I’m glad you brought up Duke Nikes Forever, now if you put that game back at its original release date, it would have been incredible and received great reviews etc

No it wouldn't. There are a lot of design decisions that just don't work together. It is not just oudated, it is poorly designed and balanced. Like, it doesn't matter when you release Hunt Down the Freeman, 10 years after Half-Life 2, or in 2003, people wouldn't consider it a great game.

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u/au_natalie avatar

There’s an old Silicon Valley quote that I think applies here - “real artists ship.” Being incredibly ambitious and creative and all that is actually not that unique; the much much much more difficult task is being creatively rich but also having the self control and professionalism to be able to say “Okay, we need to switch modes and begin consolidating, polishing, and finalizing this project.”

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And that's why publishers who can set deadlines and be like "Hey, you need to finish this game (or whatever the thing you're working on) by this date." Otherwise you just never actually put out a project due to endless scope creep and perfectionism.

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u/NeverFreeToPlayKarch avatar

maybe these delays

This is the only real delay so far. Previously it was DLC they upgraded to a full title. That's a kind of delay I suppose, but not in the traditional sense of "oops, we just need more time".

u/Batby avatar

I mean Hollow Knight takes 60 hours to 100%, Silk Song is probably gonna be up there

u/R1chterScale avatar

Considering the addition of quests and such, I'm willing to bet closer to 80-100

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I think Team Cherry's lack of communication is a little bit aggravating. While I respect their decisions and I believe in releasing games in the best state possible, a little bit of communication would be great along those years where it was originally teasered in 2019.

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What exactly would that communication do? It ain't gonna speed up the development. Just wait until it's out. Gaming is better than it's ever been, just play something else in the meantime.

u/lilylilye avatar

What exactly would that communication do?

It gives people a reason to be excited and invested. It doesn't need to be release date promises, just show the community what you're working on and what there is to look forward to through content like dev diaries, art sneak peeks, or even content teasers like screenshots of levels.

For people who are greatly anticipating Silksong, it's super frustrating to still have basically zero idea what the project looks like years after it was announced.

Communication would be helpful to know where we're at. Between 2019 and now we barely got any information. It is about transparency, not about speeding up development. It doesn't have to be monthly or even quarterly, but at least one update per year would have been enough. Especially since in 2019 it has been said it's coming "soon". We've been left with nothing to go on. As I said, it is their choice and I want the best game they can make, but choosing nearly complete silence is not cool either. Many, many companies to that much better.

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Then you'd get upset over inevitable delays. If I was a dev, I'd not communicate a release date until I was very, very confident in it either.

u/MrStormcrow avatar

They gave us near radio silence for 4 years and ended up delaying the game anyways homie

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u/NeverFreeToPlayKarch avatar

I think Team Cherry's lack of communication is a little bit aggravating

You got stock in the company or something?

I jest, because I've had the same thought before, and it's utterly ludicrous to be miffed about lack of communication from an unreleased game we haven't paid money for yet.

u/FloppyDysk avatar

Is it really so utterly ludicrous to expect what every other developer just does naturally? Also not to mention that many people have paid for this game through kickstarter support.

Really? "Utterly ludicrous"? That's what you're going with here?

u/NeverFreeToPlayKarch avatar

Would you have preferred a cow pun?

Udderly ludicrous.

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In which universe do they owe you any communication? Lol.

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At some point the amount of delays are going to build up more hype than the end product can handle. Either that or they just don't know when to call it done and we get a bloated mess. I know we're all sick of unfinished games getting pushed out the door, but it's very possible to go too far in the other direction, and I don't even mean from a financial perspective because clearly Team Cherry has no issues in that front.

u/AnotherTelecaster avatar

The band Wilco recorded songs for a 4th album, scrapped them, and brought on a new member to re-record and mix the new album. It led to a current member getting kicked out of the band, the new album being rejected from their label, and then the band being kicked off of the label. They then were forced to buy their album back if they wanted to release it themselves, which they did, for free, on their website.

That album was Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, widely considered one of the greatest albums of the 2000s, ushered in a new era for the band, and catapulted them into indie rock stardom. Sometimes development hell turns out okay.

u/xXRougailSaucisseXx avatar

Sometimes development hell turns out okay.

And the vast majority of times it turns out underwhelming or straight up bad

OK Bateman.

u/MLGLies avatar

Ooooh, it even has a watermark!

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u/au_natalie avatar

I mean, that’s a hell of a cherry picked example. I would say the vast majority of the time that an artist goes into crazy perfectionist mode they self destruct, and if anything gets released at all it’s not highly regarded. Those stories don’t get told often because they’re not very fun, but that doesn’t make the outcome less common.

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u/Android19samus avatar

oh we passed that point a while ago. We're on the downslope now.

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u/No-Introduction-777 avatar

but it's very possible to go too far in the other direction

not really. i don't care if the hype has died by the time a game releases, i want it to be as good as possible.

It's not about hype, it's about making a cohesive and focused work

u/destroyermaker avatar

If it takes too long, expectations become unreasonable and people shit on the game even if it's good

u/johnmonchon avatar

People that shit on the game because it took too long are not people worth listening to.

u/redwingz11 avatar

More like the expectations is so high even the game is 10/10 people expect it to be 11/10 and end up disappointed

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As much as I want this game last fucking week: take your time guys, whenever it’s ready I’m fucking there I don’t care when just say the word.

u/Spoomplesplz avatar

How long has Silksong been a meme delayed for now? It feels like it's been like 4 years.

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The whole idea MS had about putting a 12 months window on their announcements last year was terrible and only put unnecessary pressure on devs.

u/segagamer avatar

Well, it didn't, because they delayed it.

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I honestly can't even care at this point. It's been years and they clearly will release whenever they feel like it. It'll probably be 2024. But who knows, we won't get any actual communication until it's either out or delayed for 6+ months again

This is why producers are important, fellas. Producers ensure that the game will actually come out. You leave devs to work on a game without a limit, and they will just keep working on it forever, without ever releasing it. They will never be satisfied with their work.

u/ManateeofSteel avatar
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They are indie and they are not owned by anyone.

Team Cherry is living the indie dream. They can delay the game as much as they want because they got so much cash they don't even know what to do with it. They literally are not published by anyone, which means 100% of the profits minus platform fees are theirs.

It's fine, every project I worked on wishes they could do this

Star Citizen is working under the same model. They have tons of money but no obligation to ever release the game.

In SC's case its purely Feature Creep, they wanna add feature after feature with no "Cut off" or end goal or plan to ship

u/xXRougailSaucisseXx avatar

The game is already released honestly, it’s business model is simply to sell ships for thousand of dollars rather than actually sell copies

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it's good when the projects actually come out tho.

u/DMonitor avatar

good project managers are a rare breed. they’re practically demonized on this subreddit because “deadlines means rushed games and crunch!” is the only thing this subreddit knows, but without deadlines you just get feature creep and endless fixing of things that don’t need fixing. They managed to ship Hollow Knight + DLC, so I can only assume they have a good workflow, but I’d be concerned if they just have an attitude in the vein of “we have plenty of time, let’s rewrite the engine in Rust just in case”

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No need to rush it without budget stress.

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u/StantasticTypo avatar
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Sounds like the game is bigger than the initial launch version of Hollow Knight by a not insignificant margin too.

I'm not suggesting the team release anything too quickly or anything, but I find there are some pretty harsh diminishing returns in the size of metoridvanias. They don't scale all that well imo, since there's typically a lot of exploration, backtracking and finding items. Hollow Knight was already quite big, and unless there's actually a reason to explore this time around (in HK like 50% of the things you find are just caches of Geo), it's not a good thing.

Edit: and to clarify, I love HK. It's just that some of the bigger MVs can get kind of exhausting.

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u/destroyermaker avatar
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It didn't work out well for Duke Nukem Forever (Broussard constantly chasing new tech). Pressure can be great for art; it's been proven countless times. Think of it as heat in an alchemical container.

Duke Nukem Forever was not worked on by the same team in perpetuity. It was frequently handed off and rebooted from scratch.

Duke Nukem Forever was also never in full development by a team of indie devs. The teams were always some sub-studio that answered to corporate masters, and those masters reassigning the game is part of why it was so long before a product called "Duke Nukem Forever" shipped.

u/Android19samus avatar

Duke Nukem was a classic case of development hell: a game that took a decade not because it was being worked on for ten years, but because it was being worked on for two years five times

Regardless of how silksong ends up, we can safely say that's not going to be its problem.

Pretty extreme example. Cherry doesn't seem to have trend chasing middle managers like 3D Realms did. They are a small, passionate team that didn't scale like crazy with success so they take a lot of time to implement new ideas but they don't have the pressure to push stuff through the door.

People said the same thing about Cuphead without realizing they're just a small team and games take a lot of time. I met the Cuphead team and they pointed out that since each person was so crucial that any time someone got sick or had to take time off that literally pushed their release date back, you don't just have people to cover for you when your team is single digits.

u/Kalulosu avatar

We don't know that Silksong is in any way shape or form in a DNF situation. For all we know, they're taking time because they're a team of 3 building a game that's very content rich and just decided that they didn't want to either scale up or release the game with less stuff in it.

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u/atahutahatena avatar

From the stories and interviews, the original Hollow Knight was majorly rushed. Team Cherry was barely scraping with their miniscule budget by and were working like crazy just to get that game out. And even then, as some people might remember from its initial release, the game was still an unoptimized mess the first few months with loads of missing stuff they eventually added back with the free DLCs.

Now they're thankfully way more comfortable now with Silksong's dev cycle. Apparently, from more recent interviews with the devs, they can even afford decent meals unlike the sheer uphill grind they experienced with the first game. I doubt anyone would want to willingly go back to that.

u/TheVaniloquence avatar

Ken Levine disliked this

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I disagree.

The beauty of indie games is that they are not restricted by the AAA business model. Developers have a lot more freedom to implement their vision (the tradeoff being a much smaller budget, typically).

We shouldn't want a producer looking over their shoulders shouting "hurry up hurry up". Let them be done when they're done. Team Cherry has already proven they can release a polished, content-rich, successful product (Hollow Knight), they can do so again.

u/xasalamel avatar

Good lord. Let them cook. They’re making something special and we can afford to wait.

You leave devs to work on a game without a limit, and they will just keep working on it forever, without ever releasing it. They will never be satisfied with their work.

This in response to a sequel to a game that already came out and was amazing.

Middle-men always find some way to interject themselves into a process that doesn't need them, it seems.

u/BurningGamerSpirit avatar

Making the mother of all metroidvanias here, Jack. Can’t fret over every delay

u/DuckofRedux avatar

You are trying to make sense in a place where people call "devs" to marketing, qa, hr, programmers, etc. Kids don't see the harm in an infinite project, they think resources are unlimited.

u/63-75-6D avatar
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Are you speaking for them? They can do whatever the fuck they want to.

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I hope they take their time. I understand it has been a long time and all, but I'm perfectly happy with a longer wait for a better game

u/00Koch00 avatar

So it's gonna be +7 years riding the hype, the game now need to be like the best game ever made, like an actual masterpiece, or it's gonna be a dissapointing game, no matter how good it is ...

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u/LostInStatic avatar

I dont even follow this game but at this point JFC if you want to realign people’s expectations in an exciting way rather than just say “when it’s ready” for the 12th time just call it a numbered sequel at this point

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It is a sequel though.

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u/MadeByTango avatar
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Op, next time, you can put the relevant info in the title (Game Name is delayed to Date, Announcement in post). We don’t need to read their apologies anymore. They’re all the same. And if the mods are forcing this less helpful headline style that needs corrected, immediately.

We don’t care about delays. We care about broken games. Announce your delay and respect your audience, no problem. Sell us horseshit while still putting it out and it’s not acceptable.

The words they try to wrap around that takeaway DO NOT MATTER. That’s the crux, every single time. Everyone gets it. Games are art and time tables are hard to predict. That’s ok.

Delays are disappointing. Bad games on sale is intentionally manipulative.

And while you didn’t mean to play into it I’m sure, this trend of “hide the sale harming info from the headline so it won’t show up in SEO” junk started by CDPR is deeply problematic. Their hiding information about their products from customers on purpose.

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u/OutgrownTentacles avatar

Yeah, FUCK THEM, how dare they be excited about an upcoming sequel of a beloved game