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Why Did Silksong Take So Long? It’s Not What You Might Think

by admin August 24, 2025

Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, is finally releasing on September 4 after years of development and fears from the community that the game may never see the light of day. But Silksong is real, we’ve played it, and the upcoming launch is looming so large that multiple game studios have delayed their upcoming projects to get out of the way. But why did Silksong take so long to make?

Team Cherry founders Ari Gibson and William Pellen said Silksong was not stuck in development hell or anything like that. The enormous success of the 2017 game–it’s sold more than 15 million copies–allowed the Australia-based developers to develop the follow-up at their own pace.

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Now Playing: Hollow Knight: Silksong – Official Release Date Reveal Gameplay Trailer

“It was never stuck or anything,” Gibson told Bloomberg. “It was always progressing. It’s just the case that we’re a small team, and games take a lot of time. There wasn’t any big controversial moment behind it.”

Silksong was originally envisioned as an expansion to Hollow Knight, but it became a big enough project to shift to a full, standalone release. That’s one of the reasons why it didn’t come out sooner.

As for why Team Cherry went quiet and didn’t discuss development updates with fans over the years, Gibson said the team opted not to because, “All we could really say is, ‘We’re still working on it.'”

Pellen added: “Instead of popping up and bugging people for the sake of it, it felt like our actual responsibility was just to work on the game.”

At one point, Silksong was officially scheduled to launch before June 2023, and Pellen said the team did “genuinely believe” the game would make it out then. But that didn’t happen, of course.

The wait could have been even longer. Gibson said Team Cherry has a development structure that allows its members to “see results fasts,” with ideas turning into real elements of the game “almost immediately.” That was a fun way to work, Gibson said, but it also presented challenges.

“I remember at some point I just had to stop sketching,” Gibson said. “Because I went, ‘Everything I’m drawing here has to end up in the game. That’s a cool idea, that’s in. That’s a cool idea, tha’ts in.’ You realize, ‘If I don’t stop drawing, this is going to take 15 years to finish.'”

Silksong will release on September 4 for console and PC, and you’ll be able to play it at launch via Game Pass.

“Hollow Knight: Silksong appears to be exactly what we all should have expected: a strong, well-designed, visually lovely game that carries forward the aesthetic and design philosophies of the original with thoughtful, if not earth-shattering, updates,” Steve Watts wrote after going hands-on with Silksong at Gamescom this week.

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August 24, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

US House Slips CBDC Ban Into Defence Spending Bill

by admin August 24, 2025

In brief

House Republicans have attached anti-CBDC measures to an upcoming Defense Bill.
The U.S. remains the only major economy to halt retail CBDC development.
Stablecoins have gained traction in the U.S. as lawmakers cite fears over the privacy and control of CBDCs.

House Republicans have added a provision banning central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) into a 1,300 page bill which lays out defense spending and priorities for the next financial year.

The amendment, included in bill H.R. 3838, would prohibit the Federal Reserve from testing, developing or implementing a CBDC under any label.

It adds an exception for “any dollar-denominated currency that is open, permissionless, and private, and fully preserves the privacy protections of United States coins and physical currency.”

“Attaching our Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act to the NDAA will ensure unelected bureaucrats are NEVER allowed to trade Americans’ financial privacy for a CCP-style surveillance tool,” GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer said last month, referring to the bill.

Attaching our Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act to the NDAA will ensure unelected bureaucrats are NEVER allowed to trade Americans’ financial privacy for a CCP-style surveillance tool. @POTUS has made it clear: our legislation is a key piece of our America First agenda, and we…

— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) July 17, 2025

The charge to stop CBDCs in the U.S. is a largely Republican-led effort. Emmer himself attempted to introduce a CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act in 2023 but it failed to gain momentum. It was reintroduced upon Trump coming to office and is currently making its way through the Senate.

CBDCs around the world

Globally, however, CBDCs are advancing rapidly. According to the Atlantic Council, 137 countries are exploring digital versions of their currencies, up from just 35 in 2020, and with 72 already in advanced stages of development. The U.S. remains an outlier after President Trump’s executive order earlier this year to halt all retail CBDC work.

The opposition to CBDCs in the U.S. reflects competing visions of the future of money. Critics of CBDCs fear government overreach, surveillance and disruption to the banking sector.

The American Bankers Association (ABA), which backed the House measure in July, argued that a CBDC “would fundamentally change the relationship between citizens and the Federal Reserve, undermine the important role banks play in extending credit, exacerbate economic and liquidity crises, and impede the transmission of sound monetary policy.”

Nanak Nihal Khalsa, Co-Founder of human.tech by Holonym, told Decrypt that he hoped the senate bill against CBDCs passed because he feared “sleepwalking into surveillance money.”

“The fears are definitely justified,” he said, calling CBDCs “programmable money controlled by the state.” He added that, “Once every transaction runs through a state ledger, privacy is gone by default and the question isn’t if it gets abused, it’s when.”

“If the US takes a stand against CBDCs, it opens up space to build alternatives that are open, permissionless, and actually preserve privacy, the things that made digital money worth caring about in the first place,” Khalsa said.

Khalsa added that stablecoins issued by private companies also carried some of the same risks. “Private companies have the same incentives to track, exclude, and monetize,” he said. “The only difference is who you’re forced to trust, the state or a corporation. Without privacy guarantees built into the protocol itself, you’re choosing which empire you want to live under.”

Europe-based financial non-profit Finance Watch told Decrypt it believed concerns about surveillance are about “design, not about the concept of a CBDC itself.”

“It is entirely possible to create a CBDC that is open, permissionless, and preserves the same privacy protections as cash,” a spokesperson said. “That requires privacy by design and by default, strict limits on data collection, and offline functionality for small payments.”

“The real question is whether money should be run by private companies or issued by the central bank, as with cash,” they added, arguing that the digital Euro being developed in the EU is being designed as “a public alternative to established, privately controlled means of payment, reasserting citizens’ control of money and payments.”

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August 24, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Pepe price nears big move as whales buy 650 billion coins

by admin August 24, 2025

Pepe price rebounded, helped by the dovish Jerome Powell speech, surging Ethereum, and increased whale accumulation.

Summary

Pepe price is on the verge of a surge as whales buy.
Whales have bought 650 billion coins in the last 30 days.
The coin will benefit from the ongoing Ethereum price surge.

Pepe (PEPE), the second-biggest meme coin in Ethereum (ETH), jumped to $0.000015 on Saturday, Aug. 23, up sharply from this week’s low of $0.000009850.

Pepe to benefit from whale buying

Whale have continued to accumulate Pepe tokens in a sign that they expect the price to keep going up. Nansen data shows that these investors now hold 8.79 trillion coins, up by 650 billion from where they were on July 23.

The top 100 Pepe holders have also boosted their holdings such that they now hold 306.84 trillion tokens, up from 300 trillion tokens last month. This accumulation has pushed the tokens in exchanges to a multi-month low of 253.40 trillion.

These actions mean that Pepe has a robust demand from investors. More data shows that the weighted funding rate for Pepe coin has remained in the green this month.

The funding rate looks at the fees paid by bulls and bears in the perpetual futures market. With the figure being in green, it means that bulls are paying bears a small fee as they expect the price to keep soaring.

Pepe price will also benefit from the ongoing Ethereum price surge. As ETH jumps to a record high, it is likely that the top-quality tokens in its ecosystem will rebound too.

Pepe price technical analysis

Pepe price chart | Source: crypto.news

The daily timeframe shows that the Pepe Coin price formed a highly bullish double-bottom pattern at $0.000009850. It is slowly nearing its neckline at $0.00001265. A double-bottom is one of the most common bullish reversal patterns in technical analysis.

This pattern has coincided with the formation of the symmetrical triangle pattern, whose two lines are nearing their confluence level, where most breakouts happen.

Therefore, the Pepe Coin price will likely have a bullish breakout in the coming days or weeks. The widest part of the symmetrical triangle is about 52%. Measuring this distance from the potential breakout point gives it a target of $0.00001890, up by 65% from the current level.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

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August 24, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Higher on Powell Jackson Hole Remarks

by admin August 24, 2025

Perhaps surprising markets which had expected a hawkish tone, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell firmly put a September rate cut on the table on Friday.

Speaking at the Kansas City Fed’s Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole, Powell said the shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting policy.

“Downside risks to employment are rising,” said Powell. “If those risks materialize, they can do so quickly in the form of sharply higher layoffs and rising unemployment.”

Bitcoin has gained about 2% since the remarks hit the wires, rising to $114,200. U.S. stocks have added more than 1% and the 10-year Treasury yield is lower by six basis points to 4.27%. The dollar index has dipped about 0.5% and gold is higher by 0.6%.

Rough week ahead of Powell

In anticipation that Powell would remain hawkish, risk markets — crypto among them — had been under sizable pressure in the days leading up to his address.

Touching a record high above $124,000 about one week ago alongside September rate cut expectations that had risen to nearly 100%, bitcoin BTC$114,886.93 has slumped nearly 10% to $112,000 since as those monetary easing hopes quickly dwindled to just 69% in the hours ahead of Powell’s speech. In the minutes following, those odds have re-risen to nearly 90%, per CME FedWatch.

Read more: Fed’s Hammack Says ‘No’ to Rate Cut; Bitcoin Slips to Session Low Below $113K

The correction in the perhaps more speculative ether (ETH) was even deeper, with that crypto tumbling roughly 12% over the same time frame after coming within a few dollars of its all-time high. It’s bounced nearly 8% since the Powell speech.

In traditional markets, the Nasdaq dipped 3% over the past few days as it too priced in lessening chances of a rate cut.

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August 24, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Save $40 On Silent Hill 2’s PlayStation 5 Remake For A Limited Time

by admin August 24, 2025

Silent Hill 2’s excellent remake is discounted to only $30 (was $70) for PS5 at Amazon and Walmart. This limited-time offer matches the lowest price ever for the PS5 and PC survival horror game. PC players can get a Steam key from Fanatical for $37.79.

$30 (was $70)

Originally released for PS2 in 2001, Silent Hill 2 is widely regarded as one of the best survival horror games of all time. A remastered version appeared in the Silent Hill HD Collection in 2012, but Bloober Team’s 2024 remake is a fully rebuilt, modernized take on the Konami classic. The stunning visual overhaul makes Silent Hill 2’s haunting atmosphere all the more terrifying. The reworked soundtrack aptly captures the game’s tone, and the voice actor performances elevate the narrative.

Bloober Team’s remake is a dark descent into a world with an oppressive atmosphere. Full of surreal nightmares, players not only have to survive the terrors stalking Silent Hill but find answers to the questions that have haunted the protagonist James Sunderland for several years.

Now’s a great time to play Silent Hill 2, as the next entry in the franchise releases September 25. Silent Hill f is a standalone spin-off set in the 1960s. Unlike Silent Hill 2’s remake, the spin-off isn’t exclusive to PlayStation on consoles. Silent Hill f is available to preorder for $70 on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. Console players should check out Amazon’s exclusive Day One Edition that includes a double-sided poster.

PC players can save 25% on Steam key preorders at Fanatical. The standard edition is only $52.49, and the Digital Deluxe is $60 (was $80). The Digital Deluxe Edition comes with multiple in-game items and outfits as well as early access starting September 23.

With the latter, you’re saving a full $20 and will get multiple in-game items as well as early access starting September 23.

Silent Hill Steam Game Deals

Disclosure: GameSpot and Fanatical are both owned by Fandom.

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August 24, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

‘Blade Runner 2099’ Gets Official 2026 Window by Prime Video

by admin August 24, 2025

Good news: we now know Blade Runner 2099 still exists, and it’s on track to hit Prime Video sometime in 2026!

The target window was revealed in an internal memo from the streamer’s TV development head Laura Lancaster. Per Deadline, the memo was to announce a pair of company promotions, and in it, Lancaster remarked new co-production head Kara Smith was “pivotal” in several upcoming shows, including 2099 and the upcoming Spider-Man: Noir, which is also due in 2026. 2099 is currently in post-production, and this update comes a few weeks after executive producer David Zucker told ScreenRant he thought the series would arrive “when Amazon wants that show to air.”

Blade Runner 2099 was announced back in 2022, and marks the franchise’s latest foray into television after Adult Swim’s CG anime Black Lotus. The most we know about the show is its cast: Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer are our two leads Olwen and Cora, and they’re further joined by Tom Burke, Dimitri Abold, and Katelyn Rose Downey. This past March, Burke indicated 2099’s aesthetic would lean more toward the 1982 film over 2017’s Blade Runner 2049, while continuing the threads explored in those two films.

Prime Video’s been careful about keeping 2099 close to the chest, in part because the show’s production was delayed in 2023 during the Hollywood strikes. But we’re not that far out from 2026, and depending on when in the year the show is expected to drop, we may finally get a look at Blade Runner 2099 in the near future.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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August 24, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

875% Dogecoin Liquidation Imbalance, DOGE Price to Explode?

by admin August 24, 2025

Dogecoin (DOGE), the king of meme coins, has registered a significant uptick in price. In the last 24 hours, the price climbed by more than 11%, setting up a liquidation imbalance of 875% within the past hour.

Bearish traders hit hard as DOGE price surges

As per CoinGlass data, bearish traders suffered more as they were stunned by the price shift. Short position traders saw $700,590 as the price of the meme coin rose steadily following a shift in broader market dynamics.

As of this writing, Dogecoin is changing hands at $0.2359, representing an 11.34% increase in the last 24 hours. DOGE soared to an intraday peak of $0.2417 before experiencing a slight decline.

Is Dogecoin price rally toward $0.30 possible?

Interestingly, less than 96 hours ago, popular on-chain analyst, Ali Martinez, had hinted that DOGE was consolidating and preparing for a possible 40% price increase.

XRP Zooms 3% as Bitcoin Spikes on Powell Comments

by admin August 24, 2025

XRP Spiked 3% as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell firmly put a September rate cut on the table on Friday, causing bitcoin (BTC) and major tokens to move higher.
470 million token selloff drove volume spikes and heavy resistance at $2.92, while ETF delays and weak security rankings compound bearish pressure.

News Background

• Institutional liquidations dominated trading as 470 million XRP were offloaded across major exchanges during the Aug. 21–22 window, triggering a sharp selloff.
• On-chain settlement volumes surged 500% to 844 million tokens on Aug. 18, one of the largest spikes this year, signaling adoption growth despite market weakness.
• The SEC postponed rulings on XRP ETF applications, including Nasdaq’s CoinShares filing, now expected in October. The delay adds to regulatory uncertainty.
• A security assessment placed XRPL at the lowest ranking among 15 blockchains, raising concerns about network robustness and adding to bearish sentiment.

Price Action Summary

• XRP declined 3.1% in the 24-hour session from Aug. 21 13:00 to Aug. 22 12:00, falling from $2.89 to $2.80.
• The token ranged $0.12, a 4.25% volatility band, between a $2.92 peak and $2.80 trough.
• The sharpest move occurred at 19:00 on Aug. 21, when XRP was rejected at $2.92 on 69.1M volume, confirming major resistance.
• Final hour trading (Aug. 22 11:24–12:23) saw XRP drop 2.5% from $2.82 to $2.80 on surging volume of 7.2M, confirming bearish continuation.
• Support emerged near $2.80–$2.85, but accumulation interest weakened with each retest.

Technical Indicators

• Resistance hardened at $2.92 on 69.1M volume rejection.
• Support identified at $2.80–$2.85 zone, though weakening on repeated tests.
• Volume spiked to 96M at 11:00 Aug. 22, confirming bearish follow-through.
• Trading range of $0.12 (4.25%) highlights volatility concentration.
• Final hour selloff of 2.5% with 7.2M volume validated bearish continuation.

What Traders Are Watching

• Whether $2.80 can hold as support; a break risks acceleration toward $2.75.
• ETF-related headlines, with October decisions key to broader institutional flows.
• Whale accumulation patterns — on-chain adoption growing, but price failing to reflect fundamentals.
• $2.92–$3.00 resistance zone as breakout trigger for bullish reversal.

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August 24, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

The Tech Stock Everyone Is Watching This Week

by admin August 24, 2025

Wall Street is narrowing in on must-watch tech giant Nvidia (NVDA) this week, as the $4 trillion semiconductor company reports earnings amid an ongoing skid in the technology sector.

“When the group goes down and the most important stock in the group reports earnings, that is going to have a bigger impact than usual,” Matthew Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak, told Reuters.

That impact has analysts rushing to change their projections for the release of Nvidia’s quarterly report on Wednesday, with multiple influential predictions now adjusted to show a higher price target of $194 per share for that 12-month period, the highest amount for which the shares have ever traded.

The stock closed up more than 3% at the end of trading Friday at $177.99 amid a broader market rally led by other tech and finance companies. We covered the crypto companies that pushed that surge earlier today.

“What you’re seeing is the recognition that growth at Nvidia is rock solid,” Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management, told Bloomberg. “Analysts are raising projections because they simply need to, the stock is not going to slow down.”

How did Nvidia get here?

It’s been quite a year for Nvidia.

The stock has been caught in the Trump administration’s tariff wars and fell sharply in April. It has since clawed back about three-quarters of those losses.

But that dip followed a chilly beginning to 2025, as it became clear that even Nvidia would have tough competition from compatriot company DeepSeek, which rolled out a discount AI model that astonished the market.

Recently, the stock wobbled this week as the broader AI market felt the effects of being dubbed a “bubble” by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

More immediately, Nvidia has signaled it is willing to play ball with Trump’s aggressive attempts to take stakes in major tech companies like Apple and AMD.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Friday that the company is in talks with the American government to produce a new computer chip, a move that coincides with a joint announcement that the U.S. will take a 10% ownership slice of Intel.

“I’m offering a new product to China for … AI data centers, the follow-on to H20,” Huang said. But he added that “That’s not our decision to make. It’s up to, of course, the United States government. And we’re in dialogue with them, but it’s too soon to know.”

In the wake of Altman’s comments, however, Nvidia’s share price fell to $174 from $182 in 48 hours, as proponents of the AI bubble theory came out in force.

Huge expectations for a huge achiever

Still, no matter how much external pressure Nvidia feels from competitors and a rapidly evolving landscape of technology, it still remains the dominant player because of its sheer size and faster moves out of the starting blocks with its AI.

It also has far more reach and potentially a wider variety of clients for its more diversified set of products.

“[Nvidia] commentary on the demand side… should be more bullish just because their largest customers have all kind of upped their capex guidance over the last few quarters,” Roach told Reuters.

In fact, it is so big and has grown at such a scorching pace that if its quarterly revenue is up less than 70% year over year when it reports Wednesday, the company would likely see its share price fall.

A growth in revenue at that rate would be a major coup for most other companies, 24/7 Wall Street points out—for Nvidia, however, it would alarm investors who are spooked by the idea that it may eventually even slow down.

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August 24, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Hollow Knight Silksong has devs so scared that they’re delaying their games

by admin August 24, 2025

Following Hollow Knight Silksong’s release date announcement, several developers who were planning to release their indie games before the big holiday game rush have delayed to 2026.

The prospect of being a big enough industry titan that your release forces others to delay their games is a level of respect few games earn. GTA 6 is the only other recent example that has caused mass delays, with it being a wrecking ball for 2025’s release calendar before it got delayed to 2026.

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But, considering that the original Hollow Knight has now sold over 15 million copies and hype for Silksong is at a fever pitch, indie devs especially are feeling the pressure with a September 4 release date imminent.

Several developers have come out and said they’re delaying their games to clear the runway for Silksong, wanting to give players a chance to get through it before putting their title on the market.

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Silksong is forcing other devs to delay their games

When it comes to indie games that don’t have a massive marketing budget behind them, putting enough hype behind the initial release is an absolute make-or-break moment. Word of mouth is arguably the best way for indie games to get noticed, but, if no one knows the game exists, there isn’t anyone to tell others how good the game is.

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So, in order to give themselves the best chance of getting noticed and creating a game successful enough for them to continue game development as a career, some devs have decided not to risk competing with Silksong and opted to delay.

Aeterna Lucis‘ devs were arguably the most transparent, saying that the game is completely finished but that they’re choosing to delay into 2026 anyways.

“Our initial plan was to launch it this September, but after the announcement of Silksong, we are fully aware that our game wouldn’t have the visibility it deserves. Competing with a phenomenon of that scale would not only be unfair to our team’s effort, but also to you, the community, who expect to experience this adventure under the best possible conditions,” a statement from the developer reads.

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Aeterna Lucis

But, instead of being mad about the change, they’re grateful to Hollow Knight developers Team Cherry and credited them with being an inspiration for Aeterna Lucis and their other games.

“There’s no need to wish [Team Cherry] luck—we know Silksong will be a success and a masterpiece. Instead of rivalry, what we feel is gratitude: thanks to them, the metroidvania genre is more alive than ever and, in fact, they were one of the main inspirations that led us to create Aeterna Noctis and the entire saga now in development.”

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Faeland, an RPG that’s been in early access for almost 2 years, also delayed their 1.0 release and directly cited Silksong as the reason:

Faeland

“Our v1.0 launch was set for September 9, but with today’s announcement of Hollow Knight Silksong releasing on September 4, we’ve made the tough call to postpone our release.”

CloverPit, a rogue-lite slot machine game, was also delayed, again with a direct mention to Silksong.

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“Some of you might already have guessed the reason for the delay: Hollow Knight: Silksong.

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“The release date for Silksong was announced yesterday, and it’s only one day after CloverPit our original launch date. Silksong is the most anticipated and wishlisted game on all of Steam and we think people will love this game and play it right at launch (including us) but that also means it will overshadow all games launching close to it. So if we stick to our original date we would risk the launch of CloverPit a fair bit,” the devs explained.

CloverPit

“We poured our hearts into our little game so of course we want to give it the best possible shot. We hope you can understand – we’ll use the extra time of course to polish the game even further and we hope for your support at launch either way.”

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These are just a few examples, and consist only of statements where the devs directly admitted that Silksong was the reason their game was delayed. Who knows how many other ways that its release has affected the games industry that aren’t as transparent.

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Either way, it seems like a lot of devs and other folks working in the games industry will be taking a few days away from work to play Silksong. Probably including myself.

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August 24, 2025 0 comments