After years of anticipation, Team Cherry only gave the video game industry and players two weeks notice that Hollow Knight: Silksong was about to arrive on September 4. While a handful of indie games were moved away from that date, Rogue Factor had already staked out the same release date for Hell is Us six months earlier. Now, Hell is Us’ creative director is sharing his belief that Silksong’s shadow drop negatively impacted Hell is Us’ sales, and he doesn’t sound happy about it.
Jonathan Jacques-Belletête acknowledged that Team Cherry had the right to pick any date it wanted to during his appearance on the Friends Per Second podcast (via This Week in Video Games). However, Jacques-Belletête feels that the decision to do so on such short notice was “a little callous.”
“When you know you’re that big, I think a shadow drop is a bit like–‘wow,'” said Jacques-Belletête. “As the ‘GTA 6 of indie’ … to shadow drop something like this is a little callous.”
According to Jacques-Belletête, discussions were held between Rogue Factor and publisher Nacon about delaying Hell is Us. But there were too many complicating factors, including the need to refund any pre-orders that had already been placed.
“We decided to keep the date, and I’m happy that we did,” added Jacques-Belletête. “We’re still much bigger than some of the smaller ones who would have gotten a lot more affected and who decided to change their dates. Changing the date of Hell Is Us would have been a pretty big [endeavor].”
Jacques-Belletête went on to note that he believes Silksong’s release hurt Hell is Us’ sales, but also acknowledged that he doesn’t currently have the sales numbers available to illustrate that point.
As for Silksong, it debuted with a massive concurrent player count on Steam during its first weekend. A common complaint about the game is that it’s too difficult, and mods designed to make Silksong easier were released almost immediately. Team Cherry subsequently released its own patch to lower Silksong’s difficulty.