Pricing Expert Criticizes Hollow Knight: Silksong for Being Priced Too Low

The game set too high a bar for other projects priced at $20.

Video game pricing specialist Cassia Curran believes Hollow Knight: Silksong should have sold for more. In her view, the $20 price put extra pressure on indie developers, who now have to compete with one of the most successful games in the metroidvania genre.

The original Hollow Knight launched in 2017 at $15. After seven years of development, Team Cherry set a starting price of just $20 for Silksong, even though the project had grown in scope and offers a single-player campaign of roughly 30 hours. The game became one of the most popular releases on Steam in 2025 and was a contender for game of the year alongside major AAA projects.

Curran analyzes pricing models and maintains a tool that helps developers study successful pricing strategies on Steam. She says studios have to look at the prices of their closest competitors in the same genre. If a developer can’t make a convincing case for why its metroidvania or roguelike should cost more than popular alternatives, a higher price becomes harder to justify, even when the game is significantly more expensive to produce.