The unexpected release of Hollow Knight: Silksong on September 4, announced just two weeks prior, has taken the video game industry by surprise. This “shadow drop” has had notable repercussions, especially for Rogue Factor, whose game Hell is Us was also scheduled to launch on the same date. Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, creative director of the title, lamented that Team Cherry’s decision to announce their launch on the fly negatively impacted the sales of his own game.
They didn’t need to step on the plans of other studios
In a recent appearance on the Friends Per Second podcast, Jacques-Belletête commented that, although Team Cherry has the right to choose any date they want, the way they did it was “a bit cruel.” He acknowledged that, being “the GTA 6 of indies,” such a sudden release could be detrimental to other developers. Despite considering a delay for their game, Rogue Factor decided to stick to the release date due to complications, such as refunds for pre-orders already made.
Jacques-Belletête admitted that he did not have concrete figures to support his claim that Silksong impacted the sales of Hell is Us, but emphasized that the implications of changing the date for his game would have been significant. Despite the competition, he expressed satisfaction with the decision to maintain the planned date.
On the other hand, Silksong has enjoyed a successful launch, with a high number of concurrent players on Steam during its first weekend. However, it has received criticism for its difficulty. This situation has led to the creation of mods that make the game easier and, subsequently, to the release of an official patch by Team Cherry to reduce its difficulty level.
