Following the release of Hollow Knight: The Grimm Troupe on PC which added new bosses and even more quests to undertake, developer Team Cherry is focused on the Nintendo Switch version of the game. Though it’s worked hard despite delays, it will have to delay the adorably dark Metroidvania title to early 2018.
In a recent post about the same, Team Cherry said that, “No-one’s keener to see Hollow Knight out on the Switch than us! We know we’ve been quiet on this front for a while, but we wanted to come to a more concrete decision before making an announcement. We’ve jumped the gun in the past with this stuff!”
As for what’s taking so long, the developer said that it was due to optimization, especially since the game was initially built with many unoptimized processes. “It’s just that as first-time developers we built the game in some strange, unoptimised ways and to get things running smoothly and consistently we need to sweep back through and rewrite or fix bits and pieces. It’s an involved process, but we’ve learnt a lot for the next project and it’s a big relief to get everything cleaned up nicely!”
The developer assured fans that things are coming together and that the game looks “fantastic” on the Nintendo Switch’s screen. It also noted that all optimizations coming to the Nintendo Switch version would also apply to the PC, Mac and Linux release of the game.
As for whether Hollow Knight will come to other platforms like Xbox One and PS4, the developer said, “Though we can’t announce anything official at the moment, we can say we’ve been talking with the other platform holders, and they’ve been fantastic to deal with. They’ve also been really receptive to Hollow Knight. Once the Switch version is in the hands of all those backers who’ve been waiting so patiently for it, we’ll be properly exploring those options. Expect to hear more then!”
Hollow Knight released in February 2017 for PC and despite some technical issues at launch, it’s been lauded for its stellar art style, combat, environment design and overall structure.