Key Highlights
- Hollow Knight Silksong has released today to much fanfare.
- The game’s popularity has caused multiple services to crash out.
- It might be a while before we see any proper resolution.
To say that Hollow Knight Silksong is one of the most anticipated releases of the year would be an understatement. Team Cherry’s sequel to 2017’s metroidvania extraordinaire, Hollow Knight, comes nearly 8 years after its release for the PC and last-gen Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles.
The hype surrounding the game is sky-high (as per SteamDB), and has inadvertently started to cause problems of its own – the most recognizable of which would be in the unexpected free fall of multiple video game services, including the likes of Steam and Xbox.
Hollow Knight Silksong Explodes in Popularity as Multiple Storefronts Face Outages
Players across the globe were in for a rude awakening when Steam (among other game services) decided to give up midway through the release of Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight Silksong.
For the uninitiated, Silksong releases a whole eight years after the first Hollow Knight, and the hype surrounding the project has been nothing short of astronomical – so much so, that it has managed to crash Steam servers in a matter of minutes.
Users attempting to log in to Steam were greeted with a series of error messages, which basically restricted access to the application (on both the web and mobile clients), outside of one’s in-game library.
Also read: After Almost a Decade, Hollow Knight Silksong is Finally Here
Which is to say, Steam was basically unusable. The situation appears to have normalized now, but there are still quite a few core components and features that seem to be offline still – as per SteamDB.
This is not just restricted to Steam though – as reports have emerged of multiple other game platforms being affected by the launch mayhem as well. The most notable of these would be Xbox, which still appears to have a few server-related outages (including some very slow download speeds).
This, however, is to be expected. After all, Hollow Knight Silksong is also a day one Xbox Game Pass release, and the sheer number of players attempting to play it on both Xbox consoles (which happens to include the last-gen Xbox One as well!) and Windows PCs has caused servers to buckle under the load – even if they weren’t completely (albeit only temporarily) eradicated like Steam was.
What Can You Do if You Are Affected?
Unfortunately, not a whole lot. This is something that needs to be solved by the service providers themselves, so all you can do right now is just wait patiently until the situation normalizes by itself.
It’s bound to get worse before it gets any better though, as more and more players will try to jump into Silksong, which could cause further outages. As such, it might be a good idea to wait it out for a day, or try out your luck by refreshing the service’s app and/or web pages.
What Is Hollow Knight Silksong?
Hollow Knight Silksong is a sequel to 2017’s Hollow Knight, and can be best described as a metroidvania, which derives its origins from both the Metroid and Castlevania games. As a sequel, Silksong introduces players to a new but familiar character known as Hornet.
Silksong also features greatly improved gameplay and level design, aiming to double down on the already well established gameplay loop of the original Hollow Knight.
Players take control of the new protagonist Hornet as they explore the strange land of Pharloom, while they battle perilous foes, bosses and environmental puzzles along the way.
Also Read: Hollow Knight Silksong Outperforms Predecessor Within 30 Minutes of Launch
Interestingly enough, Silksong was initially planned as a separate DLC add-on for Hollow Knight, before growing massively in scope – resulting in the formation of the sequel we have today. It’s certainly one of the most enjoyable titles of 2025, and looks to be shaping up to be quite the experience overall.
