Following the highly anticipated Silksong DLC, Team Cherry is reportedly considering developing a completely new game instead of Hollow Knight 3. The studio's primary concern revolves around a sobering reality: mortality.

Hollow Knight fans, brace yourselves. While the promise of Silksong still hangs heavy in the air (when *will* it actually drop?!), a new development has emerged from the Team Cherry camp. Apparently, they're not necessarily set on making a Hollow Knight 3. In fact, they're seriously considering a completely new IP. Now, before you sharpen your nail and prepare for a protest, there's a pretty valid reason: mortality. Yes, you read that right. The developers are thinking about their limited time on this mortal coil, and it's influencing their creative decisions.

Following the highly anticipated Silksong DLC, Tea...

This isn't entirely unprecedented in the gaming world. We've seen similar sentiments expressed by other industry veterans grappling with the realities of long development cycles. Remember when Todd Howard, the face of Bethesda, subtly hinted that The Elder Scrolls 6 might be his swan song with the franchise? The sheer scale and time investment required for these massive open-world games takes its toll, after all. And it makes you think, doesn't it? These developers pour years of their lives into these virtual worlds, and the clock keeps ticking.

Howard's words were pretty stark. "And then as we look to an Elder Scrolls 6, that is one where... I probably shouldn't say this, but if I do the math, I'm not getting any younger," he admitted. "How long do people play Elder Scrolls for? That may be the last one I do. I don't know." It's a sentiment that resonates beyond just Bethesda. Another developer, whose identity remains unnamed in the source material, confessed to grappling with the same anxieties after a serious illness. They were suddenly confronted with the finite nature of time and the urgency to create something meaningful while they still could.

So where does this leave us with Team Cherry? According to IGN's Wesley Yin-Poole (who, by the way, you can find on Twitter @wyp100 if you want to yell at him about Silksong), Team Cherry's Gibson and Pellen have indicated that whatever they decide to work on next – be it Hollow Knight 3 or a brand new adventure – it's likely to retain that distinctive Team Cherry flavour we all know and love. Think atmospheric exploration, challenging combat, and that hauntingly beautiful art style. So, even if we don't get another trip to Hallownest (at least, not immediately), we can probably expect something equally compelling, and that's a comfort, right? It’s good to see that Team Cherry is thinking about the future, however short or long that might be.