Pricing Analyst Says Silksong's Price Was Too Low
Steam pricing analyst Cassia Curran recently said on The Game Business podcast that Hollow Knight: Silksong's $20 price "annoyed" her. "I was like, 'Oh god, please price it higher. $24.99 would have made like a big difference to a lot of studios that have similar games,'" she said. Curran runs pricing.curran.games, a site that helps developers analyze competitor pricing on Steam.
Just $5 More Than the Original After Seven Years
Silksong, developed by Australian indie studio Team Cherry, launched on September 4, 2025. Despite a seven-year development cycle, improved production values, and a roughly 30-hour single-player campaign, Team Cherry set the launch price at just $20 — only $5 more than the original Hollow Knight's $15 price tag from 2017. Curran noted that Silksong became one of the most popular Steam releases of 2025 and was nominated for Game of the Year alongside major AAA titles.
Twenty Dollars Set an Impossible Benchmark
Curran argued that Silksong's $20 price set "an almost impossible-to-meet benchmark" at the lower end of the pricing scale. "The $20 price for last year's Hollow Knight: Silksong has made it hard for any developer looking to go above that," she said. "There is actually quite a lot of downward pricing pressure." While titles like GTA can justify higher price tags, smaller developers are being forced to charge less.
Team Cherry Could Have Charged $50
The Gamer reported that Team Cherry "could have easily charged $50" for Silksong, yet chose to price it under $20. Curran believes that pricing the game at $24.99 would have made a significant difference for many indie studios releasing similar games. The original Hollow Knight launched at $15 in 2017, making the sequel's $20 price a modest increase for a game with substantially expanded scope.
Other Developers Forced to Match the Low Price
Silksong's pricing has already affected other developers. Discussions on the NeoGAF forum revealed that the developers of Valor Mortis explicitly lowered their game's MSRP due to Silksong's pricing. According to Steamyze data, Silksong scored 0.2 on "Pricing & Fairness," compared to Hades II's -0.1. Curran emphasized that smaller developers are being pushed to lower prices rather than raise them.
