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Hollow Knight: Silksong causes server chaos on Xbox, Steam, and Nintendo
- AndrewDucker 1y agoShared mostly as an example of how sometimes even the big sites can't stay up when too many people try to use them at once.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- 12_throw_away 1y agoI believe the Deltarune release this year also crashed a bunch of storefronts. Kind of interesting to compare the sales from these tiny indie developers vs, say, anything that Microsoft's mega game studios have touched in the last few years.
- jsheard 1y agoI think that's mainly down to those mega-huge games usually having preorders, and small indie game usually not, for whatever reason. Neither Deltarune or Silksong could be preordered so everyone was zerg rushing the stores at the same time.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 1y agoEspecially with the ballooning size of installs, pre-ordering and pre-loading a 100GB+ game could be the difference between playing same day vs the next.
- BlueTemplar 1y agoNote how Silksong is a decently small 7-8 Go.
- altairprime 1y agoThere’s a natural break-even point between the cost of maintaining peak server capacity and the lost revenue of server outages, especially if that peak demand is primarily fixed-quantity for a unique product with a very low chance of giving up. Ticketmaster figured this out decades ago and clearly the major game platforms have learned it as well. Note to clouders, they could spend on pre-warmed autoscaler pools, but a corporation that spends a single dollar of revenue more than necessary to make the sale is violating its duty to shareholders, and total gross launch revenue will be the same whether they do or not, so they won’t, even though they could. Note to game developers, for this exact reason you should be demanding launch month bonus targets rather than day or week; any less and you’re being knowingly ripped off by business execs.
- shadowgovt 1y agoGames, as an industry, have a lot of overlap with film. One of those overlaps is that it's still an industry where one person, with the right idea and (depending on the idea) the willingness to invest the ungodly amount of time to see it through, can put something out there that competes with the big teams and big budgets. Sometimes, the idea hits so hard that you don't even need the time investment. Notch got Minecraft from version alpha to version 1 in 2 years. That one was lightning in a bottle; unlikely to be reproducible consistently.
- dmonitor 1y agoIs that still true for film? The distribution channels for that industry are so tightly controlled that indie film producers don't see nearly the same levels of success as video games. There's a good handful of new indie game millionaires every year, and I don't think that the same can be said for TV or film.
- a_shovel 1y agoPerhaps allowing preorders for a day or two might have helped spread the load? Or at least moved it earlier so that the checkout load didn't overlap with the load from users downloading.
- adamesque 1y agoVery surprised they didn’t do preorders for this
- WithinReason 1y agoThey get extra publicity for crashing Steam. That's quite an achievement these days!
- rozab 1y agoI was thinking about this for the recent GMTK game jam, which crashed itch.io. Is it really such a bad thing for your launch/event to crash a platform? Nobody is going to decide not to buy Silksong after all because it's so wildly popular it brought down Steam. It generates a great deal of positive headlines. To me it seems like a good problem to have.
- jijikuya 1y ago1. That's Valve's prerogative, not the developer's. If they're not partnered with Valve they may not have had the option to enact pre-purchases. [1] 2. The game has no DRM and Steam preorders (in my experience) download the game files so people can play instantly on launch day. (They call it 'preloading'). For a game as highly anticipated as this, it'd likely just be cracked, leaked and pirated the moment preorders came live. [1]: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/prepurchase https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/prepurchase
- rbits 1y agoThey could've enabled pre-orders on Nintendo and Xbox
- NobodyNada 1y ago
- dvfjsdhgfv 1y ago[flagged]
- HanClinto 1y agoSilksong is already offered DRM-free via GoG at the same price as all other platforms: https://www.gog.com/en/game/hollow_knight_silksong https://www.gog.com/en/game/hollow_knight_silksong
- fwsgonzo 1y agoYep, when steam didn't work I got it immediately on GoG. Glad I did because it works flawlessly on Linux, and it comes with a Linux installer!
- maples37 1y agoDo you know how the GoG version handles achievements? I'm very used to the Steam achievement system, but obviously that's not an option when you're not using Steam.
- jabroni_salad 1y agoHollow Knight had an internal achievement tracker so it will likely be the same for Silksong. You could even unlock achievements on other platforms by porting your save file over.
- Retr0id 1y agoIs there an aarch64 linux build by any chance? (I've been playing the original via muvm/fex, which mostly works but crashes in menus frequently)
- boomboomsubban 1y agoThe system requirements list an x86-64 processor, so probably not.
- Freak_NL 1y agoOh right! I was wondering why Steam wasn't loading the store properly. That hasn't happened in a while, has it?
- medwards666 1y agoNot since the last Steam sale (and every single Steam sale before it) ... really, Valve need to sort out their creaking server infrastructure for big events and launches. It's not like no-one could have predicted this ...
- myrmidon 1y agoThere is not a lot of computer games that I would classify as art instead of just entertainment, but Hollow knight is definitely one of those. It's success is well-deserved.
- thor-rodrigues 1y agoCertainly well-deserved. I have a similar list of _art_ instead of most _entertainment_, and Hollow Kight there together with Disco Elysium
- dingnuts 1y ago[flagged]
- matusp 1y agoThe game is mocking all the political ideologies and many other aspects of current society. It is a satire.
- daseiner1 1y agothe game does skewer said ideologies but i think it's going too far to label the game as satire because those political elements are also a key part of the world of the game and its (fictional) history. so much of the game is about Revochol's monarchism, subsequent (failed) revolution, precipitating administration of the state by external liberal capitalist democracies.
- skygazer 1y agoMy understanding (without having played the game) is that you choose an ideology for your character (equivalent to fascist, communist, capitalist or centrist) and whichever of those you chose, it satirizes you for it by making you an absurd parody of whichever was your chosen ideology. So perhaps the only way to not "feel mocked" personally is to play through using an ideology you don't actually hold? Or, try not take it personally. But, I admit, your reaction makes me want to actually play it next to test my ideological sensitivity.
- apierre_cardoso 1y agoIt’s a curious situation, the reason why it’s not pulling record sales in the first hours, is because nobody can buy it since everybody is trying to buy it at the same time. Steam store checkout is off for 2h already!
- nickthegreek 1y agoWould you recommend playing the first before diving into this or is it safe to just pick this up and go?
- jsheard 1y agoI don't think anyone has played far enough into Silksong to say for certain yet, but the first game is so story-light that I can't imagine you'd be lost if you skip ahead. You really shouldn't though, the first one is very good.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 1y agoI would go so far as to say the story from the first is obtuse. I had to read a few story synopses that pulled all of the threads together. Very much a show don’t tell situation.
- cptroot 1y agoNo-one can know that for the next dozen hours or so. There were no early review copies, which means no-one knows if Silksong benefits from knowing the story, mechanics, or world of the first game
- x0x0 1y agoIf you like metroidvanias, the first is an absolute gem. Whether you do it first or second, you shouldn't miss it.
- runevault 1y agoHollow Knight is a great game, even with the fact from a story PoV you can probably skip it, I simply do not recommend it. To most (myself among them, and metroidvanias are one of my favorite genres), HK is one of the games at the pinnacle of the genre.
- gms7777 1y agoNot having touched Silksong yet, I'd recommend playing the Hollow Knight first. It holds up really well and is absolutely worth a play through. I think sometimes a sequel releases and it makes the original feel hard to go back to, if it's added new features or quality of life things. If I were in your position, I think having the "uncontaminated" experience of Hollow Knight is worth it. That is, unless you really want to feel like you're part of the conversation these first few weeks after Silksong comes out.
- Figs 1y agoHad no issues getting it on GOG: https://www.gog.com/en/game/hollow_knight_silksong https://www.gog.com/en/game/hollow_knight_silksong
- Zren 1y agoWait the original was only $15?! I got Hollow Knight in a Humble Bundle so I had no idea how cheap that amazing game was. No wonder Silksong is only $20. I saw the memes about the devs asking for $20 and assumed it was $20 more like $60=>$80 or something like that.
- Jotalea 1y agoI could get it for $7.99 :thinking:
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- sixothree 1y agoIt was $20 when I got it.
- arp242 1y agoIt's just three blokes and a bunch of contractors. According to Wikipedia Hollow Knight sold more than 15 million copies, at $15 that's $225M. Of course you have store fees, and discounts, and taxes, and whatnot, but all of that accounted for they still made at least dozens of millions – if not more. It's unclear if they would make more money if it was much more expensive. I picked it up for €19.50 today; not sure I would have paid €80.
- stoorafa 1y agoDefinitely a unicorn success story. I’d be curious about Balatro in a similar vein—-labor of love turns wildly successful
- danaris 1y agoSame. Bought it about 45 minutes after it launched, and though the download was a bit slow, it was steady and installed just fine.
- i_c_b 1y agoA few years ago, I was feeling dispirited about being middle-aged and had come around to the conclusion that, at least when playing games, my general dissatisfaction and "meh" response to the games I was playing was probably a function of my age rather than anything about the games themselves. I was enjoying some games to an extent, but I wasn't being really grabbed by anything, and I was having a hard time sticking with much that I was playing. It seemed like a reasonable just-so story, and a particular exhausting one if you make games and theoretically are supposed to like them. And then I picked up Hollow Knight, was utterly sucked into it in a deep way, couldn't put it down, and came out the other side doing the Principle Skinner meme - "Am I so out of touch? No, it's all those other games that have been wrong..." So thank you Team Cherry, for helping remind me that 1) I really can love games deeply, even in my tired middle-aged-ness, and 2) sometimes the problem isn't that a person is being too judgmental, the problem is that the the lofty potential of their ideals really is, perhaps, justified, and other creative people (for a variety of understandable reasons, really - making games is a hard and costly business) mostly aren't even really aiming for such things.
- the_snooze 1y agoI do most of my gaming in the single-player indie space these days. It's really where the fun is. You have a deep time-tested catalog of beautiful and complete experiences that don't try to nickel-and-dime you with drip-fed content or recurring microtransactions. They're games first and foremost, not extraction machines. It's the opposite of the BS you see in big-budget titles.
- ahartmetz 1y agoIndies as main course, occasional AAA snacks ;) Most AAA games are over pretty quickly, so they are quite suitable for that role.
- moritzruth 1y agoIronically, the AAA "snacks" cost triple the amount the indie games cost.
- dan353hehe 1y agoWell, there goes my week. I have a hard time getting into games anymore, but hollow knight was one that actually kept my attention enough to finish. Super great game!
- medwards666 1y agoThen, if you haven't already tried it, I can heartily recommend Nine Sols as well. Not _quite_ up there with HK, but not too far behind ...
- techpression 1y agoI found Nine Sols to be superior, much more engaging combat and more fluid as a whole, also with much darker story and more evil bosses. Of course taste is subjective, it’s a great recommendation none the less.
- Barrin92 1y ago+1 for Nine Sols. Also the setting of the game which the studio dubbed "Taopunk" for its combination of Taoism and Cyberpunk is very unique artistically. Also it had a very endearing cast of characters. As good as Hollow Knight is, story and character-wise it was very hard to follow for me personally.
- thomasfortes 1y agoNine Sols was clearly built on top of Hollow Knight, but my take on the combat is a bit different, Hollow Knight and Nine Sols would be like Dark Souls/Elden Ring (HK) and Sekiro (NS), one is focused on fast movement and dodges while the other is more focused on parry and counter attack mechanics. I enjoyed both games but I found that with the exception of the last boss Nine Sols was a way easier game after you figure out how to parry effectively. I also enjoyed the whimsical art style of HK a bit more than the (as said in a comment) "taopunk" style of NS, but that's purely subjective. But if you enjoy metroidvanias both are great games that you should try.
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- christkv 1y agoI'm just wondering why they don't stage the release by releasing it into different timezones at the same hour but not at the same time.
- whywhywhywhy 1y agoScrews over players and streamers who are in the later zones
- iammjm 1y agoWhats responsible for its secret? looks like an indie platformer game amongst many, many others. I think theres been about 20k games released on steam in 2024. How does it manage to stand out amongst other games?
- ahartmetz 1y agoNot sure, really. Hollow Knight is a nice game, but it didn't blow me away. The atmosphere is very nice, but the main storyline is IMO overwrought and kind of random. The side stories and most characters are also nice. The mechanics are, I guess, above average as well.
- rimunroe 1y agoI feel similarly. I appear to have put 30 hours into it at this point, but I don't have particularly strong memories of any part of it. It took me several tries to get into it initially. I've always felt like Ori and the Blind Forest (released only two years before Hollow Knight) was a much better game overall, particularly when it came to movement and story execution, yet it comes up far less often in discussions of the genre.
- crtasm 1y agoOri is a beautiful game but with so many effects and a tiny character I often found it hard to make out what was going on, the movement is very floaty which lead to combat feeling less tight, and other than a giant owl I don't remember any of the characters now. Hollow Knight's characters and world were a lot more memorable to me.
- someuser2345 1y agoFunny, I'm the opposite; I love Hollow Knight, but I didn't like Ori at all. I think it's because of the visual design; I couldn't tell if that glowing orb is an enemy, a bullet, or a pickup.
- greenpizza13 1y agoIt's the sequel to an indie darling widely viewed as among the best (or the best) metroidvanias. On top of that, the game has been in development for 6+ years, so long that the release has become a meme. See r/SilkSong. The hype for this is remarkable and people have been counting the hours since it was announced 2 weeks ago. People trust Team Cherry to deliver a commensurate experience to Hollow Knight, which stands as many peoples' favorite games of all time. This kind of hype comes rarely, and it's very specific to this specific game.
- egeres 1y agoI'm probably being naive, but I feel surprised that in 2025, a platform like Steam (which has existed for well over 2 decades and has around 70M DAU) is having this type of issues. I don't want to downplay the complex engineering behind scale and massive surges of demand, but it's not like it's their first rodeo. What seems to be blocking users from getting the game is accepting payments, nothing computationally complex per se IMO
- agnishom 1y agoIt's not like this kind of thing happens everyday. If Valve spent the money and effort to prevent itself from something like this, it could, but would it be worth it?
- mpartel 1y agoHuge spikes over a short period of time are hard to deal with for anyone, and payment processors have their own infra whose scalability Steam can't necessarily control.
- bilekas 1y agoNo system is completely redundant proof. It's just a matter of money and infrastructure. They didn't have any preorder system in place even so everyone had to search, buy and download all at the same time. It's probably close if not more than a million people waiting for a countdown to buy it. Bad planning, maybe but definitely not a conspiracy against the game.
- shadowgovt 1y agoIn this specific instance, I am mildly surprised preorders weren't offered. That would have taken some load off their servers and granted them money sooner; win-win for them.
- egeres 1y agoThat's because the studio's ethics are against pre-orders (and of course any type of lootboxes, microtransactions etc). I'm also happy they settled on a relatively low price tag of 19.50€, other studios would have marked it around 60€ to milk their user's wallets taking advantage of all the anticipation built up these years, kudos to team cherry
- dismalaf 1y agoWith all the recent news about the demise of the game industry, it's nice to see lots of demand for a game, especially an indie title.
- JimmaDaRustla 1y agoSystem infrastructure and outages aside, it's wild the level of simping for a mediocre side scroller in 2025.