The Most Anticipated Switch Game Could Finally Appear At Nintendo Indie World

Nintendo has announced its next Indie World Showcase will be on April 17, featuring updates on indie games heading to the Switch soon. And, listen, I know you’ve heard this before, but this might be the one where we actually hear more about Hollow Knight: Silksong. Seriously.

If you’re interested in tuning in for this historic moment or having your bug-based hopes dashed again, Nintendo Indie World starts at 10 a.m. Eastern on April 17. It will be streamed simultaneously on Nintendo’s YouTube and Twitch channels, covering “roughly 20 minutes” of game announcements all about indie titles coming out this year.

Also Silksong might finally be there.

To be clear, neither Nintendo nor developer Team Cherry has said a thing about Silksong in relation to the upcoming Indie World showcase. And yes, Hollow Knight fans pin their hopes on every gaming event that could possibly debut the long-awaited Silksong release date, to the point that spamming “Silksong” or the abbreviation “Skong” in completely unrelated streams has become a meme of its own. But this time might be different, and I’m willing to risk looking like an absolute fool later by saying this Indie World could be the one we’re all waiting for.

After a long period without any big developments from Team Cherry, Silksong has suddenly been back in the spotlight for the past few weeks. Back in February, Silksong received a classification from South Korea’s ratings board, the equivalent of the ESRB in the US, which only got wide attention in early April after a ResetEra user spotted it. That same week, Silksong got a new store page on Xbox. The ID@Xbox account cheekily revealed on social media that Silksong was available to add to wishlists on April 1, and not as an April Fools’ joke. Xbox President Sarah Bond shared the post and teased a day-one Game Pass release for Silksong the next day. Finally, Silksong’s classification with the Australian ratings board was spotted by a Reddit user just days before Indie World, though it was actually rated back on April 2.

Normally, none of these points would mean much on their own. Game ratings are a particularly rough measure of when a game is actually set to release. Ratings can appear many months before a game’s launch, and placeholders sometimes show up well before an actual rating is established. Even Xbox’s announcements could just be a way of having a bit of cruel fun at fans’ expense. But all coming in swift succession, just before Indie World no less, seems to suggest that Silksong’s time has finally come. Hollow Knight did well across platforms, but it exploded on Switch, with former Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime telling Waypoint it sold “exceptionally well.” That could make Indie World the perfect place for its sequel to finally share a release date. Plus, just as importantly, I really want it to be true.

Silksong was first announced on February 14, 2019, meaning it’s just past the five-year anniversary of its reveal. It also means it’s been in development for longer than the original Hollow Knight, according to Team Cherry, who says that the original title took around three years to make. Given the unusually long development and the extraordinary quality of the first Hollow Knight, it’s no wonder that fans are losing it waiting for Silksong, but it’s also getting to be a bit much.

While fans hollering for Silksong in chat may be doing it out of sincere love for Hollow Knight, there is a darker side to it. Every showcase that doesn’t host seemingly the most anticipated indie reveal ever is met with not just disappointment, but also anger by some players who feel entitled to announcements for Silksong. As if showcase livestream chats weren’t already unusable because of the endless racism and misogyny directed at their hosts, they’re also full of vitriol directed at developers who dare to show anything that isn’t Silksong. As excited as I am to play Silksong, I’m just as eager to finally have the game put an end to obnoxious internet commenters using its absence as an excuse to hate other indie games.

The best part of Nintendo Indie World is learning about new games for the first time and seeing a spotlight shine on indies that might never get as big of a platform again. Through no fault of Team Cherry, Silksong has drowned out conversations about other games, and turned sentiment against them toxic. So as excited as I am to finally play Silksong, I’m just as eager for its long hype cycle to finally be put to bed.