The Impact of Unity Controversy on Hollow Knight: Silksong – All You Need to Know!

Highlights

Hollow Knight: Silksong's development timeline may be further hindered by recent changes to Unity's licensing model.

The inclusion of a Runtime Fee in Unity's new licensing policy creates a potential risk for the development of Silksong as the game is being built using Unity and may attract these fees. Team Cherry could contemplate switching to a different game engine to avoid Unity's fees, but this decision could potentially lead to additional delays in the release of Silksong. Fortunately, cancelation of the game is considered unlikely given the substantial time and resources already dedicated to its production.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is facing challenges due to recent controversial changes made to Unity's licensing model, which now includes a Runtime Fee for games developed using the engine. The highly anticipated sequel to Team Cherry's 2017 indie hit has already experienced a lengthy development cycle due to the small size of the studio. Fans are eagerly anticipating the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong and what the team has in store for this next installment. However, due to the changes in Unity's licensing model, the game's development timeline may be further delayed.

Fans have been patiently waiting for Silksong for over four years since its announcement in February 2019, with only a few updates provided during this time. The most recent update from Team Cherry in May of this year stated that the release was initially planned for the first half of 2023, but development is still ongoing and there is currently no set release date. While some fans speculated that the game may be released towards the end of 2023, the lack of an official announcement coupled with the new Unity changes makes it unlikely that Silksong will be released before 2024.

Unity's New Licensing Model Could Spell Trouble for Hollow Knight: Silksong

Unity faced significant criticism last month when they announced a new licensing policy that would charge developers $0.20 for every game installation. However, after facing boycotts and backlash, Unity backtracked on their plans. They clarified that the fee would not be applied retroactively to older versions of Unity or games made with Unity Personal. Additionally, they mentioned plans to raise the revenue cap required to trigger the fee. While this revision is a positive step, it remains uncertain how developers currently working with Unity will react.

Both Hollow Knight and its upcoming sequel, Silksong, are developed using Unity. While Hollow Knight is not expected to be affected by retroactive Runtime Fees, Silksong may face potential fees depending on the version of Unity it is being developed in. Like many indie developers, Team Cherry may consider switching to engines such as Godot or Unreal to avoid any possible fees associated with Unity that could impact Silksong. Unfortunately, this change could further delay the release of Silksong, as transitioning to a completely new engine is a time-consuming process, especially for a small team.

With the current annual revenue cap for triggering Unity's Runtime Fee set at $200,000, there is a chance that Hollow Knight's immense popularity and the anticipation for Silksong might lead Team Cherry to surpass this threshold upon release. This is not a major concern for smaller indie games, but for the team responsible for one of the most acclaimed indie titles in recent years, it poses a significant risk. Team Cherry is likely aware of this and is carefully considering it while making decisions about Silksong's future.

The worst-case scenario for fans would be the cancellation of Silksong, but given the substantial investment of time and resources in the game, this outcome seems unlikely. It is also feasible that Silksong's development will proceed unaffected by Unity's new licensing policy, leading to an imminent release date. However, the most probable scenario is that Silksong will switch engines to avoid incurring Unity's fees, resulting in a further delay. Until an official statement is released by Team Cherry, fans can only speculate about the game's current status.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.