BREAKING: Silksong will be out on September 4. Two weeks from today. Really.
Often, games that take 7+ years to make are plagued by mismanagement and painful burnout. But for Silksong? Team Cherry was having a blast. They still are.
This is their story: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
The highly anticipated indie game has been in production for so long that it’s become an internet meme
So the game was in development heaven.
@foldablehuman.bsky.social silksomg
"What is Jira?" The most innocent question and I'm so jealous of him for just not having to know about this monster I'm forced to work with daily...
Product Managers ruin everything.
That's my takeaway
I was happy that I tried Hollow Knight and it's certainly a high quality game. You can tell. 😊
However, I learned that I don't think Metroidvania's are for me. I'm happy there's a sequel coming though! 🥳🎉
no, there was mismanagement
ok but, september 4 this year, right??????????
so basically
Expedition 33 has been my game of the year for 2025. That might change on September 4th. Holy crap the gameplay looks like it may have been worth the wait.
THE SILKSONG IS REAL
Damn, $12 to read that article
I’m so pleased that it was a story of “we’re enjoying just taking our time”, rather than one of breakdowns, breakups or broken contracts.
great article. This is exciting :)
Sure would be nice if universal basic income existed so that everyone could focus on stuff like this.
Great read
I feel like the perspective here is interesting. Not employing a project management system like Trello or Monday, even on a small team, would be a sign of poor management. But here, without the threat of deadlines or money troubles, mismanagement didn't matter, breaks could easily be taken.
Two of my most recent favorite indi games were Blue Prince and Tunic. Both of them were in development for 8 and 6 years respectively.
Great writeup! These devs inspire a lot of positivity in a bleak landscape.
Amazing article Jason, as always
This is just yet another case of why even a small indie studio needs a damn PR person
Great article, thanks Jason! Btw, did they talk about when Xbox said all of the games shown in their show would be out within a year that one time? Were they aware of that?
Great article. Just guys creating and having fun with it.
Gosh, a developer taking their time and enjoying making a game?
We could definitely use more of this practice. Less crunch, more comfort.
I don't believe you
Oh hell yes, I’ve been waiting for this… 🙏
The most mismanaged game to ever be made, they could've posted a screenshot or two every 2-3 months and spoiled nothing and stopped other indie devs from being fucked over
The trailer doesn't say what year 🤪
Silkpost?
I have to admit: I never thought that the biggest twist would be that there was no twist.
No drama, no behind the scenes turmoil or burnout or….anything.
“These things take time” but actually unironically.
Great interview and work! Thanks for that!
Great article. I’m so excited to play this 😎
What a refreshing joy to have a story like this!
"Everything comes together quickly. You can see results fast. Ideas turn into something that exist in the game almost immediately before your eyes, and that’s very satisfying."
A bit later... “I think we’re always underestimating the amount of time and effort it’ll take us to achieve things.”
lmao
Is this real life
Great article. In an era of studio closures, crunch and burnout its nice to see a dev that enjoyed their time making the game and able to make the game they wanted but also able to live and enjoy their lives.
Small team with great successful product keeps within their means and creative goals. But they had fun -making- it
Wow
I always have to remind folks Mass Effect took 10 years. Incredible lore takes time to build.
LETS GOOOOOO
HOLY SHIT IT'S REAL
What the FUCK is gon be the download bro
Honestly it sounds like they were living their best life making the thing they love the most, and it will show in the game they have made. So happy for them and glad that it wasn't one of the usual reasons it took them a while. I cannot freaking WAIT!!!
TWO WEEKS?!??!?!?!?!!?!?!?!???!?! THAT'S SO SOON WTF AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
I guess I should get around to playing the original
jason reporting on a thriving gamedev and project for once
So any word on why Microsoft said it was launching in 2021 during that one showcase? Cause it sounds like that was never the plan.. just an error on MS’s behalf or a misunderstanding?
Pretty sure this article is a silkpost :V
Great article Jason - it's refreshing to see that they stayed true to their process, and enjoyed it as well.
Did you talk about the decision to release on Sept 4 rather than Shadowdrop today? The game is obviously finished but it would be interesting to hear how such a decision gets made.
I have been buying fewer games because so many are digital only and you don’t really own any digital purchase you make.
It took me like five minutes and trying to google it to figure out what expletive "silkposts" was supposed to be based on 😅
It's shitposts, for anyone stuck like me. I understand why it would be, but I don't consider it an expletive and that was holding me back.
there's also the long period of time where we weren't hearing anything at all from them outside of the occasional "everything's fine don't worry"
the fans are what put you in the position you are, so it would be nice to be more communicative with them.
I thought a seven year development was just the average now? Not to take away from the wholesomeness of the story, but doesn’t it just take the better part of a decade to make a game these days?
Did you ask if they’ll give Hornet a clown nose and makeup costume? (lol)
Excellent article!
ya sabéis por dónde me va a entrar el juego
Out of curiosity, for how long were you sitting here knowingthe release date? Great article !
It’s frankly a relief it that the delay wasn’t due to some kind of personal tragedy. The silence was spooky.
Shaun will be sad.
I absolutely love them for both taking their time and telling the community to kick rocks after they started being whiny impatient babies
People in the comments disappointed that development was normal and they were having fun instead of it being a mismanaged dev hell are so weird. That only ensures the game is polished to the bone. Team Cherry are perfectionists so I can see why it took them so long.
And it only took 25 years in the making.
do you think Nintendo mandated this release date and format?
It’s hard not to admire they took their time to create a product they’re proud of, but Team Cherry still completely failed to set expectations, and going radio-silent for five years after an announcement sucks no matter how you slice it. I wish they would have addressed this more directly.
So … “Nope it just takes that long.”
And here I was thinking it was a hard reboot and reevaluation of their entire process and tooling.
"Fan" response to this has been so disappointing. Complaining they should have been updated, annoyed they were just having fun, saying dukb stuff like "we did it" when they did literally nothing. It's just very childish and entitled. I'm just really glad we get to play Silksong
Good for them! Fans gotta chill about it.
Lolllo
They didn't put a release year in the trailer. September 4th, 2026? 2027?
Well timed! (Naturally.)
Genuinely it's surprising this game exists with their development style working this way. It shouldn't be notable that they were able to slowly work at a game, enjoying the process, allowing feature creep to improve the product, because damn near every game in that cycle ends up running out of money
I know this is a bold take, but I enjoyed Hollow Knight.
If nothing else it's interesting how the cone of silence over the whole thing during development was a deliberate choice.
absolute legend
They crunched and had fun doing it!
This is how game development should be. Having a good time making fun things with passionate people, unburdened by the failure of capitalism to respect artists. This will probably be one of the best indie games of the decade.
Absolute cinema
good to hear!!!!!!!!!!
I spit out my coffee at the 'What is Jira?'
It will probably be pushed back a week. There isn't anything interesting happening on that date anyway.
"Team Cherry was having a blast. They still are." DLC incoming playable Zote
Holy feature creep batman
Oh to live without social media interactions and corporate pressure...
When Silksong finally releases and we all get to play it:
Is there anything about this being free for HK backers? I wasn't one of them but I'm interested in how they are gonna handle it.
Initial thought: they needed a project manager.
After reading article: hell yeah, we should all have jobs that are fun and let us make cool stuff.
Perhaps the biggest reason Silksong took so long was that Team Cherry never had to worry about the one thing that keeps other independent developers awake at night: money.
I could not be more overjoyed that the game sitting at the top of my Steam wishlist can finally be purchased and played here soon.
I love that Team Cherry are having so much fun as well, that alone makes the wait worth it, since I'm sure the game will more than deliver.
Can you believe it?
Silksong
Just two weeks away!
some games get stuck in development hell, this was development heaven
Love this, and I can't wait to see the "extra content" they have planned gradually turn into their next game.
baita entrevista, Jason Schreier 👏
Ah cool, they just let their fans turn every game presentation and Internet at large into a burning hellscape cause they were too unbothered to give even the slightest communications. I didn't think it was possible for me to hate the situation around this game any more
Still faster than heartbound
CONFIRMED!?
"What is Jira?" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Aren't video games taking long to make in general? Not that it necessarily precludes mismanagement and burnout but a lot more is being asked for and offered in games?
september 4 of what year? WHAT YEAR JASON?
Low-key, I cared more about this interview than the release date. I was so curious as to why things played out the way they did
So TC are just passionate, happy, extremely creative dorks. I love it. I love them. I'm so happy they had a blast developing this game. I'm so glad they stayed mostly offline and saved themselves a lot of pressure. Wishing all game dev teams a very Team Cherry Environment 😭♥️♥️♥️
Fantastic article, Jason! Really cool to finally see their perspectives on development.
Holy shit.
great article :)
Just 2(?) dudes having a great time making something they love!
Some of the corpo dudes in the comments are criticizing their way of doing things, but it's their way of doing things and they're having a great time doing it!
So who cares if it took 7 years. I hope it turns out great for them!
I predicted these were the reasons why the game took so long. Maybe I should become a games analyst! 😂
"the shape had been finalised" i see you
Great read. Thank you.
They say there was no mismanagement while saying they blew past their development goals.
That's mismanagement.
What a wholesome read. So happy for Team Cherry and their whole work style. The comments about Jira/Trello had me immensely jealous haha.
I mean I’m glad they had fun but 7+ years is still mismanaged 😂 but the times being what they are I get it
I'm feeling enormously smug about the relevation that everything was entirely caused by an utter lack of project management.
That was my theory ever since I rewatched the first Hollow Knight trailers and noticed basically no design work in them actually survived to the final product lol
being creatively fulfilled, financially secure, and in a position to simply ignore the internet. the things dreams are made of.
This is definitely going down in history for one of the most relaxed 7 year dev cycle. Like they recognized they were in a rare financial position to just take it easy and had fun with it, it's just so wholesome!
Congratulations!
Nothing makes me happier than the team taking as long as they need to (and not having to struggle to rush for financial reasons, which is by far the more common scenario).
I have high hopes for Silksong and wish Team Cherry the best.
nice text as always!
I dont believe them
I just have to wonder what all those guys with the "Where's Silksong" personality are going to do now?
Great interview Jason! It's so awesome to see they were just having fun and wanting to make the best game possible. Skong!
Thank you Mr Schreier, for a very nice read.
As someone who's also been on a Kickstarter project that, sadly, blew past development goals and came out a fraction of what it should have been due to mismanagement, I lowkey hoped Silksong was in the same spot so I'd get to use its failure as a cudgel against scope creep.
This is better.
Good i wish that were me
Looootta people in this comment section who are bizarrely parasocial with a team of game devs they've never met.
If you're taking the long development time personally, I suggest going outside. Perhaps pet a dog. Feed some peas to a flock of ducks, idk.
Maybe I'll actually be able to beat this one instead of hitting a brick wall of a difficulty spike like I did with Hollow Knight.
What an absolute pleasure to read that a game studio actually cares about it's workers and allows them the kind of working conditions every single human being on this planet deserves. They are a shining example and I hope this helps set a precedent for more game companies to do the same 🙏🏼
Thank you for the interview !! It's so well written
I write a lot about miserable game development stories, so it sure was a pleasure to hear that one of the reasons Silksong took so long was that Team Cherry is having too much fun making it and didn't want to stop
Perfect ending for the article.
Crazy people calling mismanagement like they knew what happened at the studio, is so full of envy and malice...
