“From the town of Lincoln, Nebraska, with a sawed-off .410 on my lap,” Bruce Springsteen crooned in his magnificent 1982 ballad Nebraska. “Through to the badlands of Wyoming, I killed everything in my path.” The Boss was of course relating the tale of infamous mass murderer Charles Starkweather, but he might as well have been talking about Hollow Knight: Silksong, the upcoming metroidvania that has now claimed at least eight victims since its surprise release date announcement earlier this month.
Nobody’s actually getting murdered here, to be clear: When I say “victims” I mean “other videogames,” and by “claimed” I mean that Silksong’s looming launch has led those games to adjust their own release plans so as not to be caught in the blast radius. It’s been quite a show, and while this sort of release date scramble isn’t unprecedented—Starfield made something of a mini-splash a couple years ago—I haven’t seen this kind of fracas since Cyberpunk 2077 started throwing elbows back in 2020.
How much of a difference moving away from Silksong will really make is a matter of debate, and it’s possible that some games are using it as cover for delays that are primarily driven by other considerations. But Silksong is the current king of Steam’s most wishlisted chart—beating out games like Borderlands 4 and Battlefield 6—so it’s understandable that pretty much every other unreleased PC game in proximity might want to take a little pause.
Also worth remembering that there’s no way to know how these things will ultimately work out. Back in 2023, PC Gamer editors Wes Fenlon and Jody Macgregor dared contemplate the possibility that Baldur’s Gate 3, which had moved its release date up a month to avoid Starfield, might actually be the better game. And we all know what happened there.
Anyway, with all that laid out, here’s our list of all the games that have been delayed by Silksong. We’ll add to it as necessary, although with Silksong now just over a week away, the bodies may stop dropping soon. Metaphorically, that is.
In the order we noticed them:
The Balatro-like slot machine game said, literally, “Silksong lol” and moved from September 3 to September 26.
🚨GAME DELAY 🚨
due to Silksong (can’t wait to play) launching just a day after CloverPit, we decided to delay our release
our new release date is 26th Sept
we poured our hearts into our little game, so we want to give it the best possible shot. thanks for understanding!!— @panikarcade.bsky.social (@panikarcade.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-08-27T18:31:53.272Z
Stomp and the Sword of Miracles
A Kickstarter had been planned for September 12, with a demo launching on Steam on August 29, “giving it a little boost beforehand,” but both have been delayed to an unspecified date. Developer Bee Braun said they “feel like a little krill trying to not get eaten by a blue whale.”
Head’s up – the Stomp demo has had to be suddenly delayed. I’ll keep you all updated when I know what the plan is.
— @frogteam.games (@frogteam.games.bsky.social) 2025-08-27T18:31:53.251Z
Faeland
More than seven years after a successful Kickstarter, Faeland was set to launch on September 9. No longer: “We’ve poured years of work and love into Faeland, and we want to make sure it arrives at a time when it can receive the attention and care it deserves.” A new date hasn’t been announced but is “coming soon.”
Aeterna Lucis
The sequel to the well-received metroidvania Aeterna Noctis was aiming for a September release but is now coming sometime in 2026. Aeternum Game Studios pointed the finger at Silksong, but also acknowledged that it still doesn’t have the devkits it needs for a simultaneous release on all next-gen platforms. Kind of a straw that broke the camel’s back situation.
The hit multiplayer climbing game is not delayed because it’s already out, but it’s feeling the heat anyway.
sent by a friend over d’cord…
— @glitchypsi.xyz (@glitchypsi.xyz.bsky.social) 2025-08-27T18:31:53.286Z
After initially signalling that it was ready to throw hands with Silksong, publisher Ysbryd had some vivid second thoughts: “We would not be doing Demonschool any favors by wading into waters we can clearly see are blood red.” It’s now set for November 19, a longer-than-most delay because October is crowded as hell too.
Anyway:
— @necrosoftgames.com (@necrosoftgames.com.bsky.social) 2025-08-27T18:31:53.309Z
The cozy life sim about, well, a little witch in the woods has pushed its 1.0 release date back from September 4 to September 15. “Silksong is a game we look up to with awe as developers, and eagerly anticipate as players,” Sunny Side Up wrote. “Given its immense influence, we fear that launching Little Witch in the Woods on the same day would not only dishearten our dedicated team but also disappoint our devoted audience.”
Bennett Foddy’s open world failson walking simulator has also stepped back, from September 8 to September 23.
Watch On
And finally, at least for now:
Moros Protocol
The sci-fi shooter has scrapped its planned September 4 release and will instead drop on September 18, “to ensure that the game releases under the best conditions for success.” Which is to say, nowhere near Silksong.
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