The long-awaited release of Hollow Knight: Silksong has finally arrived, and the debut has been nothing short of explosive. The game’s September 4 launch was met with such overwhelming demand that it caused major digital storefronts, including Steam, the Nintendo eShop, and the PlayStation Store, to temporarily crash under the load.
Digital Storefronts Overwhelmed at Launch
Within hours of release, Silksong had surged to the top of global download charts. Steam recorded outages as servers buckled under the strain of hundreds of thousands of simultaneous downloads. Nintendo’s eShop and Sony’s PlayStation Store also reported temporary disruptions, with some users unable to access the game during the first hours of release. Microsoft’s Xbox Store experienced similar instability before service was restored.
Silksong Sets New Player Records
Despite the hiccups, the game quickly broke into Steam’s top charts. Within 45 minutes of launch, Silksong crossed 100,000 concurrent players, before peaking at over 535,000—nearly eight times the launch peak of the original Hollow Knight. This firmly establishes Silksong as one of the biggest PC game launches of all time.
Early data suggests that Silksong is significantly larger than its predecessor. Steam achievement tracking indicates the game world may be 50% bigger than Hollow Knight, with completion times stretching up to 90+ hours for full runs. However, some players are already reporting frustration with difficulty spikes. Community discussions highlight frequent “double-damage” enemy attacks, which many feel raise the challenge level earlier than expected.
As of September 6, Hollow Knight: Silksong holds the number one spot on the Nintendo Switch eShop, with the original Hollow Knight following closely behind in second place. The double placement reflects both nostalgia and renewed interest in Team Cherry’s world of Hallownest.
