Silksong breaks the internet: this launch overwhelmed major online retailers

One must never, under any circumstances, underestimate the power of the fan phenomenon. When something captures people’s attention, its followers are willing to do whatever it takes to acquire it or propel its success. This is precisely what happened yesterday with the release of Silksong, the second installment of the independent game Hollow Knight, which managed to overwhelm the major online distribution platforms.

Steam, Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store, and Microsoft Store have yielded before Silksong

Hollow Knight was released in February 2017, becoming a worldwide success and amassing a devoted legion of fans who have eagerly awaited the arrival of its sequel. The level of anticipation was so great that yesterday, September 4, the servers of online stores such as Steam, Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store, and Microsoft Store for Xbox were unable to handle the volume of purchases and downloads, resulting in crashes and errors.

This unusual situation quickly became the topic of the day on social media. Among posts from those lamenting their inability to obtain the game, those creating memes, and those updating others on the status of various download platforms, #Silksong went viral in no time.

Trying to buy Hollow Knight: Silksong on Steam (2025, colorized) pic.twitter.com/lDZf0HEjM8

— Niclas ꕤ🪼🌻 (@NiclasObrovac) September 4, 2025

Those who managed to buy #Silksong the minute it was released / Los que se lograron comprar #Silksong al primer minuto de lanzamiento #Steam #Nintendo #Playstation pic.twitter.com/IXc6ngydMW

— 🇻🇪🐙 より(Yori Akito). 🧙🏻‍♂️ (@AkitoYori) September 4, 2025

Silksong release just crashed the steam store.. 100,000 players within 30 minutes of it’s release on Steam.

GENERATIONAL! 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/iIFczp17kS

— Z-DRAGON (@IBZDRAGON) September 4, 2025

In addition, Silksong’s triumph was also evident in its concurrent player statistics on Steam, despite the complications. Merely forty-five minutes after its release, Silksong had already surpassed 100,000 concurrent players on the platform. At present, with not even twenty-four hours elapsed since its launch, the indie game already ranks 18th among the video games with the most concurrent players in Steam’s history, with a total of 535,213.

Furthermore, when filtering the Steam data by current player count, Silksong holds third position, only behind Counter-Strike 2 (1st) and Dota 2 (2nd).

Such success was anticipated, since prior to its release, approximately 4.8 million users had added Silksong to their Steam wish list, making it the most desired title on the platform.

An attractive price that should not be used as a benchmark for other indie games

According to observations on social media, those who have already played Silksong are extremely pleased with the game’s quality and graphics, and the retail price ($19.99) is another reason for enthusiasm.

If something is high quality, visually appealing, and affordable, it is three times as good, is it not? Of course, as in all things, there are also downsides. The fact that this independent video game is so reasonably priced compared to other titles on the market that may reach $90, gives it a substantial competitive advantage. However, this could also have a negative impact on other indie games.

It is important to remember that independent video games do not have the resources and financial backing available to development studios affiliated with major companies. As a result, these studios often must set prices that allow them to remain afloat, which do not typically hover around $20. Silksong’s success is a triumph for the independent industry and makes that price point possible, but it should not cause us to forget the reality faced by the majority of indie studios.

Photo: Nintendo