Hollow Knight Silksong Just Announced Free DLC Before Most People Finished the Base Game

When You Sell 7 Million Copies in Three Months

Team Cherry announced Hollow Knight: Silksong – Sea of Sorrow on December 15, 2025, a free expansion launching sometime in 2026 that takes Hornet beneath salt-stricken seas in a nautically themed adventure. The announcement caught fans off guard considering Silksong only launched in September 2025 after six years of agonizing hype, and most players haven’t finished exploring Pharloom yet. But when you sell 7 million copies in three months and win Best Action Adventure Game at The Game Awards, apparently you can do whatever you want.

The expansion promises new areas, bosses, tools, and more as Hornet’s adventures continue underwater. Team Cherry isn’t revealing specific details beyond that vague description and an atmospheric teaser trailer showing Hornet perched on a rock while waves crash around her. True to form, the studio says further information will arrive “shortly before” Sea of Sorrow releases, maintaining the cryptic communication style that drove fans insane during Silksong’s development.

What makes this announcement remarkable isn’t just the free DLC itself. It’s that Team Cherry is already expanding Silksong when the game has been available for barely three months, contradicting years of jokes about how slowly the tiny Australian studio works. The same developers who took six years finishing Silksong after announcing it as Hollow Knight DLC apparently have another expansion ready to tease less than 100 days after launch. Either they worked on Sea of Sorrow alongside the base game, or they’re suddenly operating at a pace nobody expected.

The Teaser Says Absolutely Nothing

The Sea of Sorrow reveal trailer runs 42 seconds and communicates almost zero concrete information. Hornet stands on a rock formation surrounded by crashing waves. Lightning strikes something that looks like a spherical chamber or bathysphere. Ominous music plays. The title card appears. That’s it. No gameplay, no new abilities, no boss encounters, no exploration footage. Just vibes and water.

Fans immediately started dissecting every frame looking for lore clues and connections to cut content. The lightning-struck sphere drew comparisons to Bioshock’s bathyspheres, suggesting underwater travel mechanics might be involved. The waves and nautical setting align perfectly with dialogue from an NPC named Zylotol who mentions finding Lifeblood “at the farthest edge of Pharloom, hidden deep in salt-stricken waters.” That connection seems too specific to be coincidence.

Reddit user atahutahatena pointed out that dataminers previously discovered unfinished content relating to dock areas, sea traveling mechanics, and a large Lifeblood region that didn’t appear in the base game. Another user noted that a removed section called Lifeblood Spires was situated in the far eastern region near where Pharloom Bay was planned. The teaser ends with Lifeblood visual effects, and the nautical theme matches Zylotol’s dialogue perfectly. Sea of Sorrow likely represents Team Cherry finishing content they cut from Silksong to actually ship the game after six years.

What We Know About Sea of Sorrow

• Free for all Silksong owners, no purchase required
• Nautically themed expansion set beneath salt-stricken seas
• New areas, bosses, tools, and unspecified additional content
• Launching sometime in 2026 with no specific date
• Continues Hornet’s adventures beyond the base game story
• Likely connects to cut Lifeblood content and eastern Pharloom regions
• Details will remain secret until shortly before release
• Teaser suggests underwater exploration and bathysphere travel

Team Cherry Hinted at This Weeks Ago

The Sea of Sorrow announcement didn’t come completely out of nowhere. In a late November Bloomberg interview, Team Cherry co-founders Ari Gibson and William Pellen discussed plans for post-launch content, acknowledging that fans wanted expansions similar to what the original Hollow Knight received. “We will make sure to deliver on all of our obligations,” Gibson said, referring to promised content that didn’t make the base game.

Gibson specifically mentioned Steel Assassin Sharpe, a character teased in a Team Cherry blog post seven years ago who never appeared in Silksong. “A hunter from a distant land. He’s tasked with eliminating Hornet and he’s not come alone,” the original description read. Gibson told Bloomberg that Sharpe and companions are “just waiting in the wings” and that “we’re excited to reintroduce Sharpe.” Whether Sharpe appears in Sea of Sorrow or separate DLC remains unclear.

The Bloomberg interview also revealed Team Cherry’s philosophy on expansions. Because Hornet has a voice and personality unlike the silent Knight from the original game, any new content requires considering what she thinks about the situations she encounters. “Once you start having her think about this stuff, story starts to happen, and then that could increase the scale of any expansion we did,” Gibson explained. That narrative commitment suggests Sea of Sorrow won’t just be tacked-on challenge rooms. It’ll be a proper story extension with dialogue, lore, and character development.

Switch 2 Edition of Original Hollow Knight

Alongside Sea of Sorrow, Team Cherry announced a Nintendo Switch 2 edition of the original Hollow Knight incorporating all the technical improvements Silksong received on the platform. That means high frame-rate modes, higher resolutions, and additional graphical effects that weren’t possible on the original Switch hardware. The upgrade will be free for existing Hollow Knight owners on Switch, following Nintendo’s traditional approach to cross-generation support.

Team Cherry is already testing these improvements on PC. Beta branches on Steam and GOG are live now with full 16:10 and 21:9 aspect ratio support for Steam Deck and ultrawide monitor users. The updates also include bug fixes and one quality-of-life change fans have requested for years: the game now pauses while in the inventory menu. No more getting smacked by enemies while you’re reorganizing charms.

The Switch 2 edition positions Hollow Knight to remain relevant when Nintendo’s next console launches, presumably in 2026. If Sea of Sorrow releases alongside the Switch 2, Team Cherry could market both the upgraded original and the Silksong expansion simultaneously, creating a Hollow Knight renaissance just as a new generation of players gets access to Nintendo’s hardware. That’s smart business for a studio that clearly understands how to maximize their IP’s longevity.

Silksong’s Ridiculous Sales Numbers

The Sea of Sorrow announcement came with a sales update: Silksong has sold more than 7 million copies since launching in September 2025. That’s an absurd number for a $20 indie game, especially considering it launched day-one on Xbox Game Pass, which typically cannibalizes direct sales. For context, the original Hollow Knight took seven years to reach 15 million copies sold. Silksong hit nearly half that total in three months.

Industry analyst firm GameDiscoverCo estimated that in the first two weeks alone, Silksong sold 3.2 million copies on Steam, 500,000 on PlayStation, and 500,000 on Switch, with an additional 1.5 million downloads via Game Pass. Those early numbers suggested around 6 million players in the first month. The 7 million figure confirms Silksong’s momentum sustained beyond the launch spike, demonstrating genuine staying power rather than just hype-driven day-one purchases.

What’s most impressive is the overlap with Hollow Knight players. GameDiscoverCo found that 79 percent of Silksong buyers had previously played or owned Hollow Knight. That retention rate is staggering. Team Cherry didn’t just capture the existing fanbase. They converted almost everyone who played the original into Silksong customers. The six-year wait didn’t erode interest. It amplified it, building anticipation to levels where launch day traffic literally crashed Steam.

Game Awards Success Without Winning GOTY

Silksong received five nominations at The Game Awards 2024: Game of the Year, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Independent Game, and Best Action Adventure Game. It won only the Action Adventure category, losing GOTY and the other nominations to competitors like Hades 2 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Team Cherry didn’t even attend the ceremony, with Ari Gibson telling Bloomberg that Silksong is “on that knife’s edge, where it appeals to some and infuriates others.”

That assessment captures Silksong’s divisive reception accurately. Critics and longtime fans praised the expanded combat, refined movement, and ambitious world design. But the game’s significantly higher difficulty compared to Hollow Knight frustrated players who struggled with the original’s late-game challenges. Hornet’s moveset requires more precise execution than the Knight’s, and boss fights demand pattern recognition and timing that some found exhausting rather than exhilarating.

Still, winning Best Action Adventure Game at The Game Awards represents major validation. Silksong beat Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach in that category, standing as the only indie and the only 2D game nominated. The fact that it competed credibly for GOTY against AAA blockbusters demonstrates how much the industry respects what Team Cherry accomplished, even if the game isn’t universally beloved.

When Does 2026 Actually Mean

Team Cherry says Sea of Sorrow is coming in 2026. Anyone who lived through Silksong’s development cycle knows to take that estimate with industrial quantities of salt. The studio originally announced Silksong in February 2019 as downloadable content for Hollow Knight before realizing the scope warranted a standalone sequel. They went silent for years. Missed countless release windows. Drove fans to create daily countdown threads and elaborate conspiracy theories about hidden announcements.

Then Silksong finally got a release date announcement at Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 21, 2025, revealing a September 5, 2025 launch less than two weeks away. The game actually shipped on schedule, stunning everyone who expected another delay. So Team Cherry can hit deadlines when they commit to them. The question is whether they’ll commit to a specific date for Sea of Sorrow or just say “2026” and vanish into radio silence until August.

The fact that Sea of Sorrow likely consists of content cut from base Silksong suggests it’s further along in development than a brand new project would be. If Team Cherry already built the underwater areas, Lifeblood regions, and nautical mechanics before deciding they needed to ship Silksong, then finishing and polishing that content for a 2026 release seems plausible. But plausible doesn’t mean certain. This is Team Cherry. They’ll release it when it’s ready, community patience be damned.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does Sea of Sorrow release?

Team Cherry says sometime in 2026 with no specific date. Given their track record, expect minimal communication until shortly before launch, possibly with a surprise announcement similar to Silksong’s release date reveal.

How much does Sea of Sorrow cost?

It’s completely free for all Hollow Knight: Silksong owners. No purchase required, no special edition upgrade, no season pass. Just free DLC.

What is Sea of Sorrow about?

A nautically themed expansion that takes Hornet beneath salt-stricken seas. Team Cherry promises new areas, bosses, tools, and more, but hasn’t revealed specific story details or gameplay mechanics.

How many copies has Silksong sold?

More than 7 million copies as of December 2025, just three months after its September 2025 launch. That’s nearly half the lifetime sales of the original Hollow Knight, which took seven years to reach 15 million.

Will Sea of Sorrow include Steel Assassin Sharpe?

Unknown. Team Cherry mentioned in a Bloomberg interview that Sharpe is “waiting in the wings” for future content, but didn’t confirm whether he appears in Sea of Sorrow or separate DLC.

Is this cut content from base Silksong?

Likely yes. Dataminers found evidence of unfinished dock areas, sea travel mechanics, and Lifeblood regions that didn’t make the final game. Sea of Sorrow’s nautical theme and connection to lore about Pharloom Bay suggests Team Cherry is finishing content cut to ship the base game.

Will there be more Silksong DLC after Sea of Sorrow?

Probably. Team Cherry discussed ongoing expansion plans in interviews, mentioning obligations to deliver promised content and interest in adding new areas beyond what was originally planned. How much DLC and when it arrives remains unknown.

Do I need to finish Silksong before playing Sea of Sorrow?

Almost certainly yes. Expansions typically assume you’ve completed or significantly progressed through the base game. Sea of Sorrow continues Hornet’s adventures, suggesting it’s post-game or late-game content rather than a separate campaign.

The Silksong Cycle Continues

For six years, the Hollow Knight community endured an agonizing wait for Silksong. Daily countdown threads. Clown makeup jokes at every gaming event that didn’t feature a release date. Elaborate theories about hidden announcements in Steam database updates. The hype cycle became legendary, a cautionary tale about what happens when a tiny indie studio announces a sequel too early and then goes mostly silent for years.

Then Silksong finally launched, exceeded sales expectations, won awards, and joined the pantheon of great metroidvanias. The wait was over. Fans could finally play the game instead of speculating about when it would arrive. Peace descended upon the Hollow Knight subreddit. The clown makeup retired. The countdown threads stopped.

And now it starts again. When will Sea of Sorrow release? What areas will it include? Which bosses await beneath the waves? Will Team Cherry communicate regularly or vanish into silence for months? The cycle renews, because Team Cherry refuses to operate like normal game studios that provide roadmaps, regular updates, and firm release dates. They’ll show up when they’re ready, drop a trailer, announce a date two weeks out, and ship the expansion before anyone processes what happened.

At least this time the wait will be shorter. Probably. Maybe. 2026 is only 12 months away at most. Team Cherry said 2026. They wouldn’t delay it, right? Right? Someone pass the clown makeup. We’re doing this again, and honestly, after everything Silksong delivered, we’re happy to wait. Sea of Sorrow is coming. Eventually. When it’s ready. Just like everything Team Cherry has ever made. And it’ll probably be worth it.