Hell is Us creative director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête called the surprise release of Hollow Knight: Silksong “a little callous”, believing it had an impact on his game’s sales.
Rogue Factor’s adventure game was already locked in for its release ahead of Team Cherry’s announcement, but the two games eventually released on the same day.
“When you know you’re that big, I think a shadow drop is a bit like – wow,” said Jacques-Belletête on Skill Up’s Friends Per Second podcast. “As the ‘GTA 6 of indie’… to shadow drop something like this is a little callous.”
After Team Cherry’s announcement, the Hell is Us development team discussed with publisher Nacon whether to change the date. “It was a real thing,” said Jacques-Belletête.
However, the “real pain in the ass”, Jacques-Belletête explained, is that changing release date means refunding pre-orders. And while that wasn’t a deciding factor, the team believed they could weather the storm.
Still, Jacques-Belletête admitted Silksong’s release did impact the launch of Hell is Us. “I don’t have any specific numbers,”he said, “at least not at this time. But for sure it did.”
Above all, Jacques-Belletête highlighted the difficulties of finding an appropriate release window in the current climate.
“That’s the thing nowadays, honestly – getting a window where you’re pretty much alone is almost impossible,” he said. “15 years ago, the mid-end of the summer was always a dead period. But there’s no such thing anymore. It’s just constant madness.”
Plenty of games did change their release date in the wake of Silksong’s launch, including Demonschool and Baby Steps.
“Hell is Us is an absorbing, nightmarish meditation on the horror of war, but divisive design choices prove tedious,” reads our Hell is Us review.
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