Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight: Silksong, the highly anticipated sequel to Hollow Knight, will officially be playable at ACMI when the museum’s Game Worlds exhibition opens between 18 September 2025 and 8 February 2026. Visitors will be able to gets hands-on with the upcoming game, and also learn a lot more about its history and development, with displays exploring its design and artistic direction.
For fans of the game who’ve long anticipated more news from Team Cherry, the announcement is likely to spark plenty of excitement, and speculation about what’s to come. For its part, the ACMI team is very keen to reveal more about this game, and particularly that it’s able to feature such a prominent Australian-made games amongst its works.
“Since Hollow Knight: Silksong’s initial announcement in 2019, it has been one of the most anticipated indie games on the planet – and we are thrilled to celebrate the design of this South Australian-made game as a centrepiece of Game Worlds in September,” co-curators Bethan Johnson and Jini Maxwell said in a joint statement.
“From the hundreds of sprites that animate Hornet’s different movements and attacks, to the logic behind the game’s most challenging boss fights – and of course, having the game playable in-gallery – our Silksong displays delve deeply into the details of the game’s artistic direction and design.”
Speaking to GamesHub, Maxwell further explained it was “incredibly exciting” to be working with Team Cherry, as both a curator and a fan of Hollow Knight.
“Hollow Knight is one of the most significant indie games of the last decade, and I’m so grateful to William and Ari for their generosity in sharing the details of Silksong and Pharloom with us – particularly given how much excitement there is around Silksong’s release,” Maxwell said.
“When we started talking to Team Cherry about the exhibition last year, I had assumed that Silksong would be too confidential to include. Then they casually opened up the Silksong game project files on screenshare in a Zoom call – I think I started pinching myself in that call, and 18 months later, I’m still pinching myself.”
As Maxwell noted, it’s particularly novel that Silksong will be playable on such a public stage in Australia – and as confirmed, it won’t be the only “upcoming Australian indie darling” featured at Game Worlds.
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Thanks to ACMI and Team Cherry, we can also reveal part of this upcoming exhibition on GamesHub, via a detailed sprite sheet starring Silksong protagonist, Hornet.
Hollow Knight: Silksong – Hornet Sprite Sheet
After such a long time between updates, it’s frankly lovely to see more of Silksong, with this rich sprite sheet being the cherry on top of ACMI’s announcement.
Those keen to pop in to ACMI to see its Game Worlds exhibition won’t only be treated to a new look and hands-on with Hollow Knight: Silksong, of course. As we previously covered, Game Worlds will spotlight 30 pioneering games, including The Sims, Worlds of Warcraft, and Neopets.
Visitors will be able to wander through a curated space celebrating the realms of each game represented, and “play video games in ways they can’t at home.” This includes being able to play older games, as well as competing against world record-breaking speedruns for bragging rights. Per ACMI, Game Worlds aims to “unlock new levels of wonder” by allowing visitors to explore video games in a whole new way.
Presale to purchase tickets for ACMI: Game Worlds will begin on 3 July 2025, with general public tickets on sale from 17 July 2025. Those keen to secure tickets ASAP should join the waitlist on the ACMI website. In the meantime, you can stay tuned to see which other games will be featured in Game Worlds.
