After seven long years, Hollow Knight: Silksong has finally launched, delivering everything fans hoped for. Team Cherry’s Metroidvania is leading digital charts, surpassing half a million concurrent players on Steam, and collecting praise worldwide. But in China, players are furious about the Simplified Chinese translation, forcing Team Cherry to respond.

At last, it’s official: Hollow Knight: Silksong has landed! After years of anticipation, the game immediately soared to the top of digital sales charts, drew more than 500,000 concurrent players on Steam, and earned praise across the globe. Yet even Team Cherry couldn’t avoid problems at launch, as Chinese players voiced sharp criticism over the game’s translation.

Silksong Faces Criticism in China

As surprising as it may seem, the loudest critics of Hollow Knight: Silksong on Steam are almost exclusively Chinese players, and the reason is the Simplified Chinese localization. According to Kotaku, users in China are frustrated with outdated phrases, inconsistent translations of names and places, and tonal issues that don’t match the world’s atmosphere. Many fans see it as a downgrade compared to the first Hollow Knight, which had a far more polished localization.

The result is that many Chinese players are struggling to follow the story, forced to guess who characters are and what events mean. Still, Team Cherry didn’t hesitate to address the situation. Matthew Griffin, head of publishing, admitted on X/Twitter that there were “quality issues” and promised that fixes would roll out “in the coming weeks,” while thanking the community for its feedback.

That said, the game is still receiving plenty of love in China, with Silksong holding 44% positive reviews there. And one crucial point shouldn’t be forgotten: China is Steam’s largest language community, so a poor localization can easily generate enough noise to push developers into immediate action. Globally, however, the game is thriving, boasting a “Very Positive” rating on Steam with 83% approval across more than 70,000 reviews.

Fernando Sánchez, co-founder of Aeternum Game Studios, also weighed in on X/Twitter. He recalled that Aeterna Noctis was hit with “a high number of negative Chinese reviews,” which he attributed to “difficulty and frustration.” As he put it, “on Steam they’re free to complain,” and “Silksong is probably facing the same because of its challenge factor.”

Source: 3djuegos