Hollow Knight for Switch delayed to early 2018

Team Cherry has delayed the Switch version of Hollow Knight from its previously planned 2017 release to early 2018.

The developer also said that it has been in talks with other platform holders regarding bringing Hollow Knight to other consoles, and that once the Switch version is out and in the hands of the Kickstarter backers that supported it, the studio will be “properly exploring those options.”

Get the full message below.

Despite our best efforts we’ve recently made the difficult decision to push Hollow Knight’s Switch release to early 2018.

Everyday, we hear the passion for the Switch version, on twitter and in our inboxes, and no-one’s keener to see Hollow Knight out on the Switch than us! We know we’ve been quiet on this front for a while, but we wanted to come to a more concrete decision before making an announcement. We’ve jumped the gun in the past with this stuff!

We’ve been working hard to get it all polished up and ready (while working on the new content in the meantime), but last week, we took a moment to do a proper assess and decided that we should give it a bit more time. We both (Ari & William) want to ensure this version isn’t just an okay port, but a great one, and our partners at Shark Jump agreed.

Why is it taking us longer than we thought to get the port fully polished? Honestly, it’s just that as first-time developers we built the game in some strange, unoptimized ways and to get things running smoothly and consistently we need to sweep back through and rewrite or fix bits and pieces. It’s an involved process, but we’ve learnt a lot for the next project and it’s a big relief to get everything cleaned up nicely! The good news is that it’s steadily coming together, and believe us when we say it looks fantastic on the Switch’s screen! That might be a bit of a tease, but hopefully it’s not too much longer before you all get to see it for yourself. Plus, a side-bonus to all this is that all of the optimizations happening for the Switch version will be making their way into versions for other platforms (PC / Mac / Linux).

With Grimm now out in the world for PC, Mac & Linux, our giant, singular target is Switch, and we’re fully-focused on getting this version all tied up and into your hands.

A final note: We receive frequent queries about release on other consoles. Though we can’t announce anything official at the moment, we can say we’ve been talking with the other platform holders, and they’ve been fantastic to deal with. They’ve also been really receptive to Hollow Knight. Once the Switch version is in the hands of all those backers who’ve been waiting so patiently for it, we’ll be properly exploring those options. Expect to hear more then!

Hollow Knight is available now for PC via Steam, Humble Store, and GOG.