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Hollow Knight: Silksong - Speedrunning Masterpiece Potential

Last Updated: October 21, 2025

Hornet, the protagonist of Hollow Knight: Silksong, in a dynamic pose, ready for speedrunning action.

The moment Hollow Knight: Silksong launches, two clocks will start. The first will be for the millions of players eagerly waiting to explore the haunted kingdom of Pharloom. The second, more frantic clock, will belong to the speedrunners. While its release date remains one of the most fiercely anticipated secrets in gaming, the community is already primed for what is expected to be one of the most competitive and groundbreaking speedrunning launches in history. Based on the legacy of the original and the tantalizing glimpses we've seen of Hornet's abilities, Silksong isn't just a sequel—it's a new proving ground for the fastest gamers in the world.

The Legacy of Hallownest's Speedrunning Scene

To understand the hype for Silksong speedruns, one must first look at the incredible community built around the original Hollow Knight. Years after its 2017 release, runners are still finding new routes and shaving precious seconds off records. The game's intricate map, tight controls, and sequence-breaking potential made it a near-perfect canvas for speedrunning artistry.

Categories like "Any%," where the goal is simply to beat the game as fast as possible, have seen world records drop below 30 minutes—a jaw-dropping feat requiring pixel-perfect execution and a deep understanding of exploits like "Shade Skips" and "Explosion Pogoing." Meanwhile, completionist runs like "112%" demand encyclopedic knowledge of every charm, mask shard, and boss, with top times still pushing the two-hour mark. This dedicated scene has set a high bar, and it’s this very community that is waiting, practice files loaded, to tear Silksong apart.

Hornet's Toolkit: A Speedrunner's Dream

Everything Team Cherry has shown of Silksong points to a faster, more acrobatic experience, centered on its new protagonist, Hornet.

Her toolkit seems tailor-made for speed:

  • Heightened Mobility: Hornet can mantle ledges, sports a faster dash, and boasts a significantly higher jump, reducing the traversal challenges that defined the early game for the Knight.
  • Grappling Hook & Tools: The addition of a grappling hook and a vast arsenal of crafted Tools (replacing Charms) will be the cornerstone of new speedrun routes. Runners will be in a frantic race to discover which tool combinations break the game's intended path first, allowing for massive sequence skips.
  • Silk and Healing: Hornet’s ability to use Silk to perform special moves and to heal almost instantly (binding with a full soul meter) will fundamentally change the flow of boss fights and difficult platforming sections, minimizing time lost to recovery.

The Future of Silksong Speedruns: The Race to World First

The moment Silksong is released, a global, un-televised race will begin. Top players will likely stream their first playthroughs, not for the story, but to dissect the game's mechanics in real-time. The first 24 hours will be a chaotic storm of discovery as players map out the world, test boss vulnerabilities, and hunt for the first game-changing glitches.

We can expect the first "Any%" completion times to be in the range of three to four hours for a blind playthrough. Within the first week, however, as routes are optimized and major skips are found, that time will plummet. The community will be laser-focused on breaking the 90-minute barrier first, then 60 minutes, and beyond. New categories will emerge based on questlines, tool usage, or specific endings. The competition will be fierce, collaborative, and a captivating spectacle for the entire gaming community.

Conclusion: A New Kingdom to Conquer

Hollow Knight: Silksong remains a ghost, a promise of a kingdom yet to be explored. But for the speedrunning community, its shape is already clear. It is a challenge, a complex machine of code and design waiting to be optimized and ultimately, broken. The legacy of the original game, combined with a protagonist built for speed, guarantees that the conquest of Pharloom will be one of the most exciting events in speedrunning. The only question that remains is who will be the first to reach the top of the citadel—and how impossibly fast they will do it.