Hollow Knight: Silksong has inspired a significant wave of game delays, with many independent titles abandoning September, following Silksong‘s sudden release date announcement. The first game to announce a major delay specifically due to the arrival of Silksong was Aeterna Lucis. This was swiftly followed by CloverPit, Faeland, and now, Demonschool.
‘As you know, we have been working for more than four years on Aeterna Lucis, our most ambitious project to date. A title that means a lot to us and represents the biggest effort of the whole … team,’ Aeternum Game Studios wrote in a recent update (via Gematsu).
‘Our initial plan was to launch it this September, but after the announcement of [Silksong], we are fully aware that our game wouldn’t have the visibility it deserves. Competing with a phenomenon of that scale would not only be unfair to our team’s effort, but also to you, the community, who expect to experience this adventure under the best possible conditions.’
While Aeternum Game Studios also revealed a secondary challenge – that it didn’t have the necessary development kits to ensure a simultaneous release on all consoles – it appears Hollow Knight: Silksong was the primary factor in the decision to delay the game.
A similar reason was also provided by the Demonschool team, with publisher Ysbryd Games deciding to delay the game to November. In this case, it’s worth noting the decision was not made by developer Necrosoft.
‘With eleven years under our belt as an indie publisher, we at Ysbryd Games are reasonably qualified to say that any point of 2025 on balance, has been or will be as brutal as market conditions can get when it comes to releasing a game,’ Ysbryd Games said. ‘Crueler still, that we should find out with such short notice that Hollow Knight: Silksong will launch just one day after our planned release for Demonschool.’
‘We have to remind ourselves that gaining visibility for Demonschool is our main goal. Thus, the Ysbryd team strongly believes we would not be doing our game any favours by wading into waters we can clearly see are blood red.’
While the language used here is fairly strong, the crux remains that Hollow Knight: Silksong is such a highly-anticipated game, backed by so many years of hype, that it’s likely to overshadow any other game release in the same period. In the current economy, games are in a difficult spot of needing both public visibility and dominance of player wallets. Times are tough. Money is tighter. Games need to grab attention with both hands to earn player engagement.
To ensure more distance from Hollow Knight: Silksong, and perhaps secure more interest by way of a delay with heightened visibility, a raft of games have now sailed from their place in September, and will be arriving at a later date. For keen players, this will likely come as a disappointment – but for those who have Hollow Knight: Silksong on the brain, the distance may also allow for more robust appeal in future.
You can look forward to seeing more from all of these upcoming games at a later date.
Also on ScreenHub: Big Games Night Out returns to Melbourne this October
Big Games Night Out will officially return as part of Melbourne International Games Week (MIGW) 2025, on 9 October, with this year’s show set to feature major game exhibits, immersive shows, opportunities for tabletop adventuring, and even a space for young gamers. The centrepiece of the show will be the Electric Arcadia exhibit, designed by Callum Preston and Louie Roots, which will ‘transport fans to the classic era of the 80s and 90s and highlight the enduring impact games culture has on our lives.’
