It is wild to think that Hollow Knight: Silksong has been out for nearly nine months now. After one of the most agonizing development cycles in indie gaming history, Team Cherry dropped the sequel on September 4, 2025, and it immediately became clear why the wait was worth it. With over 140,000 reviews on Steam and a Very Positive rating sitting at 93 percent, Silksong did not just meet expectations, it steamrolled them. It won Steam Awards 2025 for Game of the Year and Best Game You Suck At, which honestly tells you everything about how players feel about the difficulty and the quality in equal measure.

What is in the box

Today, Fangamer dropped the news that physical editions are finally happening. Not for Switch 1, not for last-gen consoles, but for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch 2. The release date is locked in for October 16, 2026, and pre-orders are already live on Fangamer's store. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions will run you $39, while the Switch 2 version is priced at $45. Yes, the Switch 2 tax is alive and well, but at least you are getting a complete game on the cartridge, and Fangamer confirmed that Switch 2 Edition game cards work with both Switch 1 and Switch 2.

What is actually in the box matters here. Fangamer is not just slapping a disc in a case and calling it a collector's item. The physical edition ships with a reversible cover sheet, a 32-page game manual written by Team Cherry themselves, and a 9 by 12 inch poster illustrated by Ruben Molina. In an era where most physical releases are just download codes in a plastic shell, this is the real deal. The manual especially feels like a love letter to anyone who grew up reading instruction booklets under their desk during math class.

The Sea of Sorrow catch

There is one important caveat though. The upcoming Sea of Sorrow expansion, which Team Cherry announced back in December 2025, will not be included on the disc or cartridge. It will be available as a free download when it launches, which is fair, but worth knowing if you are buying this specifically to own the complete package offline. The original Hollow Knight is also getting physical re-releases on PS5 and Switch 2 for $35 and $39 respectively, complete with their own reversible covers and 28-page manuals.

Why this still matters

Looking at the broader picture, this physical release says something about Silksong's staying power. Most indie games peak in their first month and vanish from the conversation. Silksong is still pulling 3,850 recent reviews on Steam with a 91 percent positive ratio, and now it is getting a premium physical treatment nearly a year after launch. That does not happen unless a game has carved out a permanent spot in the culture. Team Cherry built something special here, and Fangamer clearly recognizes it.

For anyone who has been holding out for a boxed copy, October 16 is your date. For everyone else who already owns it digitally, the Sea of Sorrow expansion is still looming on the horizon, and if the base game is any indication, that free DLC is going to be substantial. Either way, Silksong is not leaving the spotlight anytime soon.