Do you have the will to stop doomscrolling for a minute and celebrate something positive? I hope so, because that means you might let me share my thoughts about a video game whose development history is a welcome counterbalance to the industry-typical cycle of crunch, stress, and toxicity. It turns out that there might be some things more important than hitting deadlines and, whatever the final quality of the game, Australian video game developers Team Cherry are, in my book, sure winners.
Silksong, which releases on September 4 (three days in the future as a write this), is one of the most anticipated video games of the past decade. It is the sequel to Hollow Knight, Team Cherry’s Kickstarter-backed Metroidvania (nonlinear platform game with an emphasis on exploration, leveling up, and unlocking new abilities) that took the video game world by storm on its 2017 release, selling more than 15 million copies and becoming critically (Metacritic says “universally”) acclaimed.
I never thought that I would tell people how much I enjoyed playing a mute, nameless insectoid who negotiates a world filled with tricky terrain and anxiety-inducing hazards while fighting other insectoids, battling to halt an infection that has disordered an ancient subterranean kingdom. But Hollow Knight is absolutely enthralling, certainly one of the best games I’ve ever played. Parts are beyond-frustratingly hard—it is an ongoing regret that I have only reached 111% completion on the game, not 112%. If you are curious, finishing the Pantheon of the Knight is what’s holding me back. I can get through most of it, but I haven’t figured out Pure Vessel yet. Yet. True, White Palace was an awful grind, the Trial of the Fool made me feel quite foolish, and I haven’t even thought about trying the Path of Pain, but there is something relaxing about spending time in Hallownest—at least when the primal aspids are far away.
Fresh off the success of Hollow Knight, Team Cherry announced plans for a DLC (downloadable content) expansion named Silksong that would put the player in the role of Hornet, one of the game’s most popular characters. The following year, Team Cherry revealed that Silksong would be a standalone game offering players an entire new world to explore, with one catch: it wouldn’t be done quickly.
“Just remember, we’re 3 people, already working rather hard,” the team shared in a 2019 blog post, “so we haven’t committed to anything else just yet. We don’t wanna collapse before we get this massive bug kingdom ready for you.”
Six years and massive amounts of fan appreciation later, Silksong is almost here. I’m hoping it is as great as the original, but even if it isn’t, I’m a big fan, not because of anything in the game, but because of how they made it. I haven’t spent any time with Team Cherry and can’t claim to know them personally, but something that cofounder Ari Gibson said in a recent interview makes me think that he has his priorities in order:
“It’s also that problem where, because we’re having fun doing it, it’s not like, ‘It’s taking longer, this is awful, we really need to get past this phase.’ It’s, ‘This is a very enjoyable space to be in. Let’s perpetuate this with some new ideas.’”
I’d like to unpack that a bit. Gibson explains the long development time of Silksong, for which delivery was expected as early as 2020, as being a product not of hardship but of creativity and fun. Initially, Team Cherry thought that the game would be finished quickly; but more ideas led to more work, which in turn led to more ideas. It must have taken tremendous discipline not to go into crunch mode to appease the fans demanding the game, but Team Cherry did it.
From an outside vantage point, it seems that, as the project expanded, Team Cherry had four options:
- Limit the game, allowing the current staff of three to finish it “on time.”
- Wave goodbye to work/life balance, trading months of stressful long hours for an “on time” game that met their vision.
- Bring on additional staff who might be able to get the game out sooner, but also might disrupt the team’s chemistry.
- Don’t worry about the clock and instead focus on having a good time while making the game you want.
I don’t see any logical reason that four isn’t the best option here. It satisfies the team’s creative vision while also preserving their well-being, which, surprise surpise, probably will result in a better finished product and maybe, hopefully, another great game a few years from now. There are many theories of motivation, but it seems reasonable to assume that happy people will work better than miserable ones. Keeping the game small would have disappointed everyone, starting with the developers, while adding new staff could have gone two ways—either bringing in brilliant new approaches that enhanced and extended what was already there, or introducing personalities that might not have been compatible with the existing culture and creative relationships. That’s a big gamble.
When difficult decisions loom, it’s advisable to step back and reflect on our fundamental convictions: what is really important to us? Is it worth putting ourselves through hell to produce a video game? Probably not, if we’re honest. Gamers might complain online, but they’ve got plenty of other things to do while they wait, and if they demand misery as the price for their game, they probably don’t deserve it anyway. Staying true to what really matters is worth a thousand universally-acclaimed games.
Team Cherry committed to principles that many of us talk about but forget when it’s in (what we think is) our immediate self-interest: integrity and respect for those we work for. By honoring both their artistic vision and commitment to making the development process livable, they’ve set an example that, hopefully, others will embrace.
I’m particularly enthused by Team Cherry because they faced a tough decision and didn’t opt for the lucrative, crowd-pleasing, but soul-crushing option of prioritizing product over well-being, [Hollow Knight spoilers ahead] which strikes me as ironic given the self-sacrifice we see in the endings to Hollow Knight. Apparently there are some costs too great. If we all remembered that, we might make ourselves and those around us a little happier, and that’s something more valuable than even the best game.
So until next time, expect the unexpected, stay informed, and I’ll stay informal.
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