Unity's imposing fees have Hollow Knight Silksong fans worried about their anticipated Metroidvania sequel
Team Cherry is very likely to be affected by Unity's new fees
Hollow Knight Silksong fans are once again worried about the Metroidvania sequel, but this time for a somewhat different reason.
Earlier this week, game engine provider Unity announced a new fee that would see some developers charged per installation after a certain threshold. Developers have widely lambasted the proposed changes from the company, and attempts from Unity to clarify the changes earlier today haven't done much to assuage the anger and fears from developers.
Unfortunately, Unity's new fee could very well have consequences for Hollow Knight Silksong. Because Unity will charge a .20 cent fee for every installation after 200,000 installations, and Silksong is an undoubtedly anticipated game, the sequel from Team Cherry could very realistically reach this threshold, potentially having significant consequences for the developer's revenue.
Silksong fans have clocked this, and are now worried about the Metroidvania sequel. The tweet below, for example, highlights how Jack Vine, game programmer at Team Cherry for the past six years, would have to do all the porting himself. We can't even fathom the amount of work that would go into porting Silksong to a new game engine after more than five years in development.
Unity delaying silksong another 40 years as poor Jack Vine has to painstakingly port it all to another engine all by himself😭Seriously though the level of corporate greed is unreal theres no way they get away with this right? https://t.co/kvrmlwjDJkSeptember 12, 2023
What's really funny about the tweet below is that it actually got a 'Like' from Vine himself on Twitter. The programmer's other likes on Twitter are filled with game developers criticizing Unity over the new policy, but we still really, really hope the programmer doesn't have to undergo this gargantuan port because of Unity's misjudgements.
Hollow Knight Silksong delayed another 5 years to remake the game on a game engine that's not UnitySeptember 12, 2023
On the other hand, there's a lot of the sentiment below going around. We've been waiting for Silksong for over four years now, since it was announced in February 2019, so what's another few more years if the studio actually gets to continue after Silksong ships and not fold under Unity's new fees?
We need to let the Silksong team know we are 100% ok with a few more years delay for them to port the game away from Unity.September 13, 2023
Hollow Knight Silksong is so popular that it's actually seen rip-offs on mobile storefronts. "Hollowknight silksong is the medieval game that you are looking for," reads one game description, with the game's images literally being screenshots taken from past Silksong trailers. With great anticipation comes scheming clowns, I guess.
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Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.