First playtesters for Hollow Knight in seven months: after a disappointing Nintendo Direct without Silksong this week, Silksong playtesters took to the game's Discord to update fans on the game's progress.

A long-awaited video game and a creepy fan community obsessed with every detail, or lack thereof, go together like an adorable bugman and an underground kingdom without stars (in 2021, after over a year of no new information about Eldenring, Eldenring fans were losing their minds (open in new tab)), and the Hollow Knight community is showing signs of crossing a similar mental threshold after the sequel failed to make it to Nintendo's showcase.

Lots of memes about "copium" and "hopium," "Squidward dreams and hopes are here" type posts, and an enormous amount of messages were the word of the day. From the outside looking in, it was like Philly after the Super Bowl.

Someone working on the game actually said something definitive in response to users climbing lampposts and chewing on walls. [One of the game's playtesters, Graig, said, "I feel for you guys, I really hope this game gets released ASAP. It will come and it's a glorious game worth the wait." We all love it."

To be fair to the Hollow Knight Discord, the mood was upbeat and Graig was playing along, offering a playful and obviously funny fake release date before this assurance. I would describe the chat as "lively" rather than "upsetting," but some of the guys had Lando Calrissian profile pictures and joked about setting Team Cherry HQ on fire. Honestly, it's a nerf-harder kind of statement, and while there's nothing particularly suggestive in Graig's remarks, it's still good evidence for the long-awaited Metroidvania: Silksong is real, there's a little secret society playing right now, and the only thing that's going on is the fact that the "Metroidvania" is a "little secret society" that is "a little secret society" that is "a little secret society.

It is interesting that the Nintendo Direct has become the default source of hype and speculation for Silksong fans. This is likely due to the residual excitement from when the game was revealed as part of Nintendo's E3 2019 and a 20-minute gameplay demo (opens in new tab); as PC Gamer senior editor Wes Fenlon said, "Every big press conference is , a new opportunity for disappointment (opens in new tab)."

With no official release date for Silksong yet, it's best not to joke about burning down the studio and spend the uncertain wait with grace and dignity. While you wait, you might want to try "Tunic" (opens in new tab). Otherwise, check out our guide to everything we know about Hollow Knight: Silksong (opens in new tab).