The Steel Assassin is coming after all.
When you’ve spent seven years climbing the mountain that is Hollow Knight: Silksong, you’d expect a long break at the summit. But Team Cherry aren’t slowing down. In a new interview with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the Adelaide-based duo confirmed they’re already building fresh post-launch content, and they’re not ruling out development on a brand-new game next.
Team Cherry teases future Silksong DLC
Co-founder Ari Gibson got straight to the point: yes, DLC is in development. The long-teased steel-themed assassin first mentioned in a years-old Team Cherry blog post is finally on the horizon, with Gibson saying the character is simply “waiting in the wings. Waiting to arrive is probably the best way to say it.”
For the uninitiated, Sharpe is a Kickstarter boss from Jaspal Boodram, who proposed an assassin bug with a whip-like nose and several other unique talents. Sharpe is tasked to hunt down Hornet throughout the kingdom, along with his companions.
Sharpe, the long-lost assassin, finally returns
For fans who have been waiting since that original blog tease, the confirmation that Sharpe’s suite of content is indeed on the way is one of the biggest updates Team Cherry has given in years.
Gibson said Sharpe was held back because “all of these pieces need polish, and polish takes time.” Development was so packed that the team had to tuck Sharpe away, but their return is firmly planned. For many players, the steel-themed assassin has been a mythical promise during Silksong’s long development cycle. Team Cherry now confirms they will appear, only after the team is satisfied with the level of finish.
Gibson explained that Sharpe and their suite of companions were set aside during development because “the game had so much in it,” and polishing everything took priority. He added that “we’re excited to reintroduce Sharpe. We just have to get to them.”
Team Cherry will not commit to a release window, and according to Gibson, that is not a smokescreen. As he put it, “We didn’t plan seven years for Silksong. Not that we expect to take an excessive amount of time, but we still are pursuing the same development philosophy, which sometimes can expand our timeframe.”
Both developers reiterated that they genuinely do not know when the DLC will land. Schreier’s own introduction to the subject echoed this, noting that the new content is coming but “the developers at Team Cherry won’t say when it’s coming out.”
Seven years of Silksong shaped their approach to post-launch plans
Gibson and co-founder William Pellen described a production cycle defined by constant iteration and a refusal to compromise the world’s internal logic. That same philosophy now governs their post-launch roadmap.
Gibson said of Silksong’s development: “[…] years of the game’s development is us in there creating new options for ourselves and then for the players.” They repeatedly hit walls, discovered new routes and expanded the design as they went. That flexibility is also why they are not promising a date for the Sharpe content until it meets their standards.
Pellen added that their work ethic naturally resists shortcuts. When asked about difficulty options earlier in the interview, he explained their general mindset: “You need a pretty good reason to go back over something.” It is a line that reflects the larger picture of how they manage additions, updates and refinements across the entire game.
The path after Silksong: Team Cherry is open to making brand-new game
While the studio’s immediate focus is on Silksong’s DLC, Gibson and Pellen did not shut the door on beginning another project entirely.
“... We do have other games that we plan to make,” Gibson shared. “The only time concern really is, and we’ve talked about this before, death.” With Team Cherry looking to keep their game development philosophy the same, each new project may take quite a while.
“It’s not that far off if you spend seven years per project, and potentially add another two. So it’d be nice to do a few more games. Apparently, our timeframe still allows us to fit a few more in. Short of an unexpected tragedy.”
Meanwhile, Team Cherry are committed to finishing Silksong’s DLC with the same care that shaped the base game, and they are open to tackling a new project once it is done. Until the studio is ready to show more, players can expect the developers to keep working quietly, and at their own pace.
