On September 4, gamers worldwide got a long-awaited gift — the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong from Australian indie studio Team Cherry. Fans had been waiting more than eight years for the sequel, and their patience was more than rewarded. The game not only delivered impressive player numbers but also quickly shot to the top of livestreaming charts.
The overwhelming popularity of Hollow Knight: Silksong was clear from the start — Steam’s servers crashed almost immediately after launch due to the massive influx of players. According to SteamDB, the game hit 535,000 concurrent players within the first few hours. That milestone secured it a spot among the top 20 most-played games in Steam’s history.
Hollow Knight: Silksong also crushed it on Twitch. On launch day, the game pulled in 2.9 million watch hours, ranking as the second most popular title on the platform. The only game ahead of it was Dota 2, which dominated thanks to the kickoff of The International 2025. The Silksong category averaged 125,200 viewers, peaking at 358,700 concurrent watchers. In both metrics, it trailed only Dota 2 while leaving every other game far behind.
Streamer activity was impressive as well — the Hollow Knight: Silksong category hit a peak of 13,267 active channels on Twitch. That’s the third-highest total since the start of summer, topped only by Fortnite and NBA 2K26.
To mark the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong, Twitch introduced a new global badge. Unlike emotes, these badges appear next to your username in chat and can be personalized. The last game to receive a launch-related badge was Elden Ring Nightreign’s Wylder, which players unlocked by clipping stream highlights. This time, fans can grab the Silksong Hornet badge — featuring the game’s protagonist — by subscribing to one of the participating channels. The campaign is already underway and will run until September 13, after which the badge will no longer be available.
Most popular Hollow Knight: Silksong streamers
The launch of Hollow Knight: Silksong caught the attention of many top content creators. On Twitch, Spanish streamer Alejandro “alexelcapo” led the way on release day, topping both total watch hours and peak viewership for the game. Other notable streamers who showcased Silksong included Rafael “Cellbit” Lange, Alan “alanzoka” Ferreira, Marc Robert “Caedrel” Lamont, Ben “CohhCarnage” Cassell, and more.
Hollow Knight: Silksong wasn’t the only big release this past week. NBA 2K26 hit early access, and Path of Exile 2 dropped a massive new patch. Both titles quickly climbed into Twitch’s top charts as well.
