It finally happened. After years of clown memes and "Silksong is a myth" jokes, Hornet’s adventure actually hit our screens in September 2025. Honestly, the release felt like a fever dream for most of us. But if you think Team Cherry is taking a three-year nap now that the base game is out, you haven’t been paying attention.
The latest Hollow Knight: Silksong news isn’t just about bug fixes or minor patches. We are looking at a massive, free nautical expansion called Sea of Sorrow slated for 2026.
It's weirdly poetic. The game that was originally meant to be a DLC (and grew into a seven-year development epic) is already getting its own massive content drop. Team Cherry confirmed during their 2025 holiday blog post that this expansion is "well underway." They also dropped a bombshell: Silksong sold over seven million copies in its first few months. That doesn’t even count the millions playing through Xbox Game Pass.
Basically, the kingdom of Pharloom is a hit. Now, we're heading to the coast.
What is the Sea of Sorrow Expansion?
For those who’ve already conquered the Citadel, the Sea of Sorrow is the first major post-launch content for Silksong. It's nautical. Think shipwrecks, bioluminescent coral, and probably some very annoying underwater enemies that will make you lose your Silk in seconds.
Team Cherry is being their usual secretive selves, but we know a few things for sure.
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- New Areas: We are getting entirely new zones that seem to lean into the "Pharloom’s Bay" concepts that were hinted at years ago.
- Bosses: Obviously. Expect at least a few legendary-tier encounters that will make the base game's final boss look like a Mosscreep.
- Tools and Abilities: Hornet is getting fresh gear specifically designed for these aquatic environments.
- Price Tag: $0. It’s free.
It’s interesting to see how they’re handling this. Most studios would slap a $15 price tag on something this big, especially after a development cycle that lasted nearly a decade. But Ari Gibson and William Pellen have always worked a bit differently. They mentioned in a recent interview that they actually had to stop themselves from adding this content to the base game just to make sure it finally released in 2025.
Why the 2026 timing is a big deal
You've probably noticed that 2026 is shaping up to be the "Year of the Switch 2." Along with the Silksong expansion news, Team Cherry announced a "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" of the original Hollow Knight.
This matters because the Silksong expansion is likely being optimized alongside these hardware upgrades. If you own the original game on the first Switch, you get the upgrade to the Switch 2 version for free. It adds high frame-rate modes and better resolution—features that Silksong already uses. It's basically Team Cherry bringing the whole family up to modern standards.
Sorting through the rumors and "clown" theories
If you've spent any time on Reddit lately, you've seen the "Sea of Sorrow release date" predictions. Some people were convinced it was dropping January 1st. Spoiler: It didn't.
There's also a rumor floating around that the expansion was delayed to 2027. This seems to be a classic case of the community traumatizing itself after the long wait for the base game. As of January 2026, the official word from Team Cherry is still a 2026 release.
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Could it slip? Sure. This is Team Cherry. They are perfectionists. They famously spent the last two years of Silksong’s development just "polishing" and adding details. But given that the foundation of the engine is already solid, a 2026 window feels much more realistic than the original game's launch window ever did.
The technical side of the news
If you’re a PC player, you don’t actually have to wait until 2026 to see some of the work they’re doing. Team Cherry recently pushed a public beta patch (v1.5.12301) for the original Hollow Knight on Steam and GOG.
It's got some stuff we've wanted for ages:
- Ultrawide Support: Finally, 21:9 and 16:10 resolutions that don't look broken.
- Pause on Inventory: A small quality-of-life tweak that makes a huge difference in the heat of a run.
- Controller Support: They moved to the Unity Input System, which basically means your obscure third-party controller might actually work now without a headache.
What you should do now
If you’ve already finished Silksong and you’re looking for more, the wait for Sea of Sorrow is the perfect time to go back to basics.
First, check the PC Beta. If you own the original Hollow Knight on Steam, opt into the public beta. The new graphical fixes and ultrawide support make Hallownest look better than it ever has. It’s a great way to see the technical "DNA" that is being carried over into the Silksong expansion.
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Second, keep an eye on the Switch 2. If you’re a console player, don't buy the original game again on the new hardware. Wait for the free upgrade. Team Cherry is being very consumer-friendly here, so there’s no need to double-dip.
Finally, manage your expectations. We all know how the Silksong wait felt. The "Sea of Sorrow" teaser was just a cinematic. We haven't seen raw gameplay of the new areas yet. Team Cherry said they’ll share more "shortly before" the release, which usually means we’ll get a trailer and then the DLC will drop two weeks later.
Pharloom is already a massive world. Seven million players are currently digging through its secrets, finding hidden paths, and complaining about the difficulty. The fact that we're getting even more—and for free—is kind of wild when you think about the current state of the gaming industry.
Stay patient. The tide is coming in.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Update your PC version: Right-click Hollow Knight in Steam, go to Properties > Betas, and select the public-beta branch to test the 2026 technical upgrades.
- Follow the Blog: Check the official Team Cherry blog specifically for the "Sea of Sorrow" release window announcement, likely coming mid-2026.
- Save your Silk: If you're still playing the base Silksong game, focus on completing the "Steel Soul" equivalent or the Boss Rush modes now; the expansion bosses are rumored to require endgame-level mobility.