Hollow Knight: Silksong is facing a wave of negative user reviews in China over its Simplified Chinese localization. We explore the mixed reception on Steam and what Team Cherry's ongoing silence reveals about the game's post-launch support.
Silksong's Post-Launch Troubles and Future Updates
Review Bombing in China
After a wait exceeding six years, Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally here, but Chinese fans are expressing deep dissatisfaction with its localization. While the overall Steam rating remains "Mostly Positive," filtering reviews by language reveals a stark "Mostly Negative" score for the Simplified Chinese version.
Player feedback in this segment heavily criticizes the poor quality of the Chinese translation, citing it as a major detriment to their experience. TigerHix, the CN translator for OMORI, noted that the Silksong translation awkwardly reads like a Wuxia novel, failing to capture the game's intended tone.
Amid this backlash, Team Cherry's PR and Marketing Head, Matthew Griffin, addressed the issue on Twitter (X) on September 5th. He confirmed the team is aware of the complaints regarding the Chinese translation's quality and is working on improvements to be rolled out in the coming weeks.
Despite this acknowledgment, Team Cherry has not provided a specific timeline for when players can expect the fixes. Currently, 72% of the 28,743 Simplified Chinese user reviews on Steam are negative.
Japanese language reviews are also "Mixed," with many players commenting on the game's high difficulty and some balancing issues. Despite this rocky start in certain regions, Silksong maintains a strong overall positive rating of 77%.
Here at Game8, we awarded Hollow Knight: Silksong a stellar 98 out of 100, praising it for masterfully building upon the original and making the lengthy development cycle feel justified. Read our full review below for more detailed thoughts.
