Summary
Hollow Knight: Silksongmight be in a tough position after the recent controversial changes to Unity’s licensing model that would impose a Runtime Fee for games built in the engine. The follow-up to Team Cherry’s 2017 indie hit has already faced a long development cycle due to small size of the studio, and many fans are eager to see what the team has in store for this next title. Unfortunately, fans may have to wait longer forHollow Knight: Silksongthan originally anticipated as the changes to Unity could impact the game’s development timeline.
Fans have been waiting forSilksongfor over four years already, with the game being announced in February 2019 and only a few updates in the time since. The most recent word fromTeam Cherry regardingSilksong’s statuscame in May of this year with the update stating that release was initially planned for the first half of 2023, but development is still ongoing and there is no planned release date at this time. While some fans speculated the game could make a late 2023 release, the lack of any official announcement this late in the year coupled with the new Unity changes means its unlikelySilksongwill release before 2024.
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Unity’s New Licensing Model Could Spell Trouble for Hollow Knight: Silksong
Last monthUnity faced a wave of criticismfrom developers and players alike over the announcement of their new licensing policy that would implement a Runtime Fee, charging developers $0.20 every time their game was installed. After developer boycotts and online backlash, the software developer walked back these plans stating that the fee won’t be retroactively applied to games using an older version of Unity or games built using Unity Personal, also stating they plan to increase the annual revenue cap necessary to trigger the fee. While this revision is a step in the right direction, it’s unclear how developers currently building games in Unity will respond.
Both the originalHollow KnightandSilksongare developed in Unity, so whileHollow Knightmight be free from incurring retroactive Runtime Fees,Silksongmight not be so lucky depending on which version of Unity the game is being developed in. Like many indie developers, Team Cherry may be tempted to switch to an engine like Godot or Unreal in order to avoid any potential fees associated with Unity thatSilksongcould trigger. The unfortunate side effect of this process would likely be delaying the release ofSilksongeven further beyond what it’s already experienced, as changing to an entirely new engine is a time-consuming task, especially for a small team.
Although the annual revenue cap for a game to triggerUnity’s Runtime Fee is now set to be $200,000, the massive popularity ofHollow Knightand subsequent hype forSilksongcould be enough that Team Cherry runs the risk of hitting that revenue number when the game releases. For smaller indie games, this high ceiling isn’t much of a concern, but for the team behind one of the most popular indie games in recent years, it’s a serious possibility. Team Cherry is likely aware of this risk and is taking it into consideration when deciding onSilksong’s future.
The worst-case scenario for fans would be forSilksongto be canceled entirely, but the amount of time and resources already invested in the game makes this outcome seem unlikely. It’s also possible thatSilksong’s development continues unhinderedby Unity’s new licensing policy and a release date is imminent. However, the most likely situation is thatSilksongswitches engines to avoid incurring Unity’s fees and suffers another delay, but until an official word is given by Team Cherry, fans can only speculate as to the game’s status.
Hollow Knight: Silksongis in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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