It would come as no shock to hear that Hollow Knight is one of the most profitable indie video games of all time, proper? An immensely common Switch launch (a quarter of a million gross sales in its first two weeks) and six years of ready for one of the most hyped-up sequels ever is certain to do that. But it turns out that the melancholic metroidvania has bought even higher than we expected.
In a new interview with Bloomberg (paywalled), studio co-founders Ari Gibson and William Pellan acknowledged that Hollow Knight has bought around 15 million copies since it launched back in 2017. 2.8 million of these gross sales came before Silksong was announced in 2019, and an further 12 million have come in the years since, the devs acknowledged.
For reference, that places Hollow Knight’s gross sales numbers roughly in line with Pokémon Legends: Arceus (which had amassed 14.83 million models bought by the last official depend in 2023). Of course, not all of Hollow Knight’s purchases will have come from Switch, but still, it’s in line with a Pokémon sport.
According to the Bloomberg characteristic, the sport’s continued success has meant that the staff has been in a position to proceed to work on Silksong without having to fear about funds. “We’re very lucky in that regard,” Gibson instructed Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, “I don’t ever really think about it that much. Maybe that’s the privilege of it”.
Compare that to the development of Hollow Knight, where the staff was reportedly residing off leftover workplace sandwiches and the odd $20 top-up from mother and father, and it’s plain to see just how far the studio has come between video games.
Just in case you missed it, Hollow Knight: Silksong will launch on Switch and Switch 2 on 4th September.