On June 18th, Graig, the lead tester for one of the most anticipated games in recent years, commented on Discord about its seemingly dormant status claiming that he knows that “they [Team Cherry] they are not in development hell.” In a later message, he also noted that developers set internal deadlines, regularly miss them, and don’t make it public – implying that the same is happening to Team Cherry.
With a penchant for trolling, Graig’s reputation isn’t the best, but his insider knowledge is all Hollow Knight fans have to deal with the delayed release of Silksong. The wait has entered its fifth year, and yet Team Cherry is still mostly keeping to themselves. In another comment two days later, Graig acknowledged fans’ concerns by empathizing with them and saying the studio could do a better job with its communications, though he did so after his earlier statements were disparaged on the Silksong subreddit. Regardless of his accuracy (or lack thereof), it’s worth acknowledging that Graig is not part of the actual development team behind Silksong, and as such, shouldn’t be held to the same standards or scrutiny as the rest of the Cherry team. And as for the studio itself, Graig’s words about internal deadlines can serve as a reminder to fans to treat the developers with understanding and patience, because development is no easy task.
2019 was the year Silksong was announced, but it was also the year Nintendo gave Metroid fans a mid-project update to Metroid Prime 4: that development would restart under the watchful eye of Retro Studios. Some might wonder why, after so many years, such a development update hasn’t been released for Silksong, but Team Cherry, being an indie studio, has to have its own way of working and dealing with issues, and we may very well get an update in near future. Fans have every reason to be frustrated and unhappy, and Team Cherry could do more to appease the loyal players who value their work so much, but if Graig’s words have any merit, Silksong is still alive and well – making its way through the boss rush against the demon of development. Perhaps it’s fitting for a game that’s going to have soul-crushing difficulty that its journey to completion is a challenge in itself, and hopefully the payoff will be better because of it.
