Silksong: Should You Postpone Your Indie Game September Release?

After almost seven years of silence and speculation, Team Cherry announced on Gamescom 2025 that Silksong is releasing on September 4. And while this is exciting news for many people, it sent a shiver down the spine of all indie developers who were planning their release for September.

The #1 wishlisted game on Steam just landed in the middle of your release campaign. So, do you try to capitalize on the hype or should you postpone?

September Breakdown

When deciding on an optimal day for your game's release, I always recommend putting any major upcoming events or releases that could impact your game's performance. You can consult resources such as the Steam Upcoming Events page or SteamDB's Calendar to tailor your timeline further.

If you are a visual person like me, then putting your timeline down in software such as Miro, Canva, FigJam, Photoshop, etc, helps a lot. That said, below is a very brief analysis of the September release period. Please note that you should also include other relevant events, fests, or competitor releases when making your own.

Timeline showing Silksong’s Sept 4 release, high-relevance period Sept 4–21, potential indie release window Sept 15–21, and Steam Autumn Sale Sept 29–Oct 6. — September landscape analysis timeline. Get the template here.

We can see four major things happening: Silksong release on September 4, the high-relevance period, Steam's Autumn Sale, and a potential release window for your indie game.

Silksong Release & High-Relevance Period

The high-relevance period is exactly what it sounds like: the time after a game releases, when everyone is talking about it. This applies both locally to a game's community or niche, or globally with viral or high-impact titles.

This period can be expected to be amplified during September, given that Silksong is the #1 most wishlisted game on Steam, and most outlets and creators will be looking to create content about it.

If you are going forward with your release in September, reach out to creators early to give them enough time to prepare and slot your game into their content calendar, even if it comes after your release window.

Steam Autumn Sale

Be very mindful of Steam seasonal sales when planning your release date; Steam sales completely override your launch visibility boost (usually 30 days), and people sometimes prefer to hold on to their budget for a few extra days to see if other games on their wishlist go on sale before spending their money.

Remember that purchasing a game is a double commitment for players- they invest their money and their time (at least mentally speaking. We all have that friend with 300 games in their backlog), so even if your game releases at a low price-point or with a 20% discount, buyers might still not want to commit the time to playing them until they are done playing their newest acquisitions from the Sale, thus postponing their purchase and hurting your release momentum.

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If you decide to release within 30 days of a Steam Seasonal Sale, reach out to Valve and ask if you can tie in your release discount with a Seasonal Sale so you can participate in it.

Potential Release Window

If one of my clients were aiming for a September release, I would recommend setting the date to some time between September 15 and 21. This would allow for at least 10 days of cooldown after Silksong's release, while also giving me a bit over a week of space before the Autumn Sale.

The potential release window on the timeline is what I deem to be the best timeframe for a September release, based on my experience, and also not having any particular title for release in mind.

The Silver Lining

Many indie devs are already postponing their game releases to October to give enough space for hype to die down and be able to catch attention for their own titles. While this is undoubtedly the safest approach, it could also be a very unique opportunity to capitalize on.

Not everyone is interested in the Hollow Knight universe and will be looking for alternatives, while the whole internet floods with Silksong talk. Use this opportunity to reach out to content creators and news outlets that typically cover a variety of titles, and see if they would be interested in covering your game.

Platforms like X and Bluesky will get a lot of traffic on the Hollow Knight and Silksong keywords. You should consider including them in your copy to get extra traffic to your posts. Just make sure to include them in a natural way that makes sense with your caption.

GIF of a panda cub rolling on the ground with text 'POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE.' — *You got this!*

So, Should You Delay Your Release?

There is never a truly comfortable time to release. There will always be an event, sale, announcement, release, viral TikTok, etc, that you will have to compete with for attention. Silksong is a bit different, though; it is the #1 wishlisted game with an estimated 4.8 million wishlists, according to Alinea Analytics' newsletter.

However, do not panic. Silksong is just going to get more attention than your average big release, but it doesn't mean it will get all the attention, and there will still be plenty of opportunities for you to promote your title. The key is understanding the market context and adapting your strategy accordingly.

It is also entirely acceptable to postpone your release to October once the hype for Silksong has cooled down and once people recover their wallets from the Autumn Sale. Just be sure to communicate with your audience in advance to manage expectations.

So, what is going to be your play for September? Are you going to stand your ground against the indie titan, or are you going to take the safe route and postpone your release to October? Drop your thoughts in the comments below, or join the MKTYG Discord server, and thank you so much for reading!