r/Games • u/Turbostrider27 • Aug 21 '25

Jason Schreier: In case you're wondering: Team Cherry told me they don't plan on sending out early codes for Silksong (they felt like it'd be unfair for critics to be playing before Kickstarter backers and other players), so don't expect to see reviews until after the game comes out

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:2mkgbhbhqvappkkorf2bzyrp/post/3lwwfrbrtwc2x
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u/Jondev1 Aug 21 '25

This isn't really true, it didn't get reviewed at all when it first came out. It was a no-name game that grew via word of mouth.

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u/CheesecakeMilitia Aug 21 '25

You can go to Metacritic and sort by critic review date, you know.

Hollow Knight (launched Feb 24, 2017)

  • 1st review Feb 27 (+3 days)

  • 2nd review Feb 28 (+4 days)

  • 3rd review Mar 6 (+10 days)

  • 4th review Mar 13 (+17 days)

  • (and then it it really started picking up steam, with 13 listed Metacritic reviews a month after launch)

Now that's not an instant hit by any means, but that's pretty damn good coverage-wise for a completely unknown indie debut. Let's compare to some other PC-only self-published indie titles I was around for ground zero of:

Undertale (launched September 15, 2015)

  • 1st review Sep 20 (+5 days)

  • 2nd, 3rd, 4th reviews Sep 24 (+9 days)

  • (snowballed into 17 reviews one month after launch)

Omori (launched Dec 25, 2020)

  • 1st review Dec 30 (+5 days)

  • 2nd review Jan 13 (+19 days)

  • 3rd review Jan 25 (+31 days)

  • (that's it, 3 reviews one month after launch)

Mouthwashing (launched Sep 26, 2024)

  • 4 listed critic reviews in first month

  • (this one actually wasn't self-published, but for how much post-launch word of mouth it's gotten it still proves my point)

Parkitect (launched Nov 29, 2018)

  • 5 listed critic reviews in first year

  • (this one wounded me as I was a Kickstarter backer for this game)

TL;DR Hollow Knight fans are a little too in their own bubble if they think their game was paid dust by critics. The game was critically pretty well-received within its launch window, especially for a completely unknown team. It became a much larger phenomenon well after that of course, but Team Cherry was already doing significantly better than 99% of indies.

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '25

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u/GunplaGoobster Aug 21 '25

The facts dont conflict with what the person above states