Team Cherry
CompanyAustralia · Founded 2014
Documents about Team Cherry
Caught in Silksong’s Web
The surprise release of Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight: Silksong on September 4, 2025, serves as a focal point for analyzing current industry dynamics, specifically regarding development autonomy, market saturation, and the evolving relationship between developers and media.
- The surprise September 4, 2025, launch of Hollow Knight: Silksong triggered a market reaction where at least 18 independent titles delayed their releases to avoid direct competition.
- Team Cherry’s decision to bypass pre-release review codes for Silksong has intensified industry debates regarding the role and future viability of professional game criticism.
- The 11-year development cycle of Silksong demonstrates that self-funded studios can successfully bypass traditional industry pressures, such as external release-date mandates and rigid project management.
How Much Should We Freak Out About Silksong
This September 2025 analysis examines how worried indie developers should be about Hollow Knight: Silksong, the top wishlisted game on Steam, launching on September 4.
- The release of a major title like Hollow Knight: Silksong does not significantly impact the sales of other indie games, as Steam's algorithm-driven visibility—such as the Discovery Queue and New & Trending lists—remains the primary driver of success.
- Only 7 games from the observed list rescheduled their launch dates to avoid the Silksong release, while 29 games with at least 400 followers maintained their original release dates.
- Leveraging a major industry event for marketing can be effective; developers who publicly addressed the Silksong release, such as the team behind Baby Steps, saw significant engagement, with their announcement video garnering 123,000 views.
The Curious Case of the Missing Switch 2 Devkits
The gaming industry is currently facing a significant bottleneck regarding the Nintendo Switch 2, characterized by a widespread scarcity of development kits.
- Nintendo is reportedly restricting access to Switch 2 development kits, leaving many developers—including major studios—unable to optimize their titles for the new hardware.
- Nintendo is directing developers to rely on backwards compatibility for the Switch 2, which prevents studios from leveraging the console's enhanced technical capabilities.
- The lack of dev kits forces developers to adopt a 'ship and hope' strategy, as they cannot test how their games perform on the Switch 2's higher-resolution display or improved hardware.
The Debrief: August 2025
The August 2025 edition of The Debrief serves as a monthly industry digest, focusing on major developments within the global video game market.
- Team Cherry has officially announced a September 2025 release date for Hollow Knight: Silksong.
- The title Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is currently facing potential regulatory censorship challenges within the Chinese market.
- Alinea Analytics has released performance insights regarding the standout titles showcased at the annual gamescom event.
Steam's Top 5 Most Wishlisted 2025 Games
The analysis identifies the five most wishlisted games on Steam for 2025, highlighting the correlation between high pre-launch wishlist counts and successful commercial performance.
- Hollow Knight: Silksong currently leads all 2025 releases on Steam with 4.8 million wishlists, driven by high community engagement despite a sparse marketing cycle.
- ARC Raiders, developed by Embark Studios, holds the third position on the 2025 Steam wishlist chart with 2.5 million wishlists ahead of its October 30 launch.
- Dying Light: The Beast and Borderlands 4 round out the top five most-wishlisted 2025 games with 2.3 million and 1.8 million wishlists, respectively.
