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The September 2025 backlash over Hollow Knight: Silksong centered on its Simplified Chinese translation: players and a translator criticized its tone and clarity, and launch-period reports showed sharply lower ratings in that language than across Steam overall. Team Cherry acknowledged quality problems, released a replacement translation for public testing, and later said Patch 4 brought in a fan translation by Team Cart Fix. Those old review snapshots do not establish how Chinese-language players rate the game today.
What prompted the Simplified Chinese backlash?
Silksong released on September 4, 2025. Steam lists both Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese as supported languages, but the controversy reported that September concerned the Simplified Chinese localization specifically. The criticism was not just about isolated typos: players objected to wording that they felt made the game’s voice and meaning harder to follow.
On September 7, Engadget reported that Steam’s overall rating was “Mostly Positive,” while reviews filtered to Simplified Chinese were “Mostly Negative.” The article described complaints about a jarring mix of ancient and modern Chinese, alongside other criticisms of difficulty and rewards. Translator Tiger Tang, who had worked on the Simplified Chinese translation of OMORI, wrote that the “translation reads like a Wuxia novel instead of conveying the game’s tone.” That is Tang’s pointed comparison, not a neutral description of Chinese writing or a consensus statement about all players.
A day later, TechRadar described the Simplified Chinese review aggregate as “Mixed,” with around 44% positive. The different label and figure show why review ratings need a date and language filter attached: these were changing launch-period Steam snapshots, not a lasting measure of player opinion.
#1 Best Overall
![Hollow Knight: Silksong Standard - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mOgOC8xEL._SL160_.jpg)
- Discover the fallen insect kingdom of Pharloom! Explore mossy grottos, gilded cities and misted moors as you ascend to the shining citadel at the top of the world.
- Engage in lethal acrobatic action! Wield a huge suite of deadly moves as you dance between foes in swift, beautiful combat.
- Craft powerful tools! Master an ever-expanding arsenal of weapons, traps, and mechanisms to vanquish your enemies and explore new heights.
- Solve shocking quests! Hunt down rare beasts and solve ancient mysteries to grant the wishes of the downtrodden and restore the kingdom’s hope.
- Face over 200 ferocious foes! Beasts and hunters, monsters and knights. Defeat them all with bravery and skill!
How did the launch ratings compare?
| Snapshot | Review group | Reported result |
|---|---|---|
| Engadget, September 7, 2025 | Steam overall | “Mostly Positive”; the article did not give a percentage. |
| Engadget, September 7, 2025 | Simplified Chinese-filtered reviews | “Mostly Negative”; the article did not give a percentage. |
| TechRadar, September 8, 2025 | Simplified Chinese-filtered reviews | “Mixed,” with around 44% positive, as reported at that time. |
| Steam, October 8, 2026 | English-language reviews | 93% positive among 146,343 reviews. |
| Steam, October 8, 2026 | Recent reviews from the last 30 days | 91% positive among 3,245 reviews; Steam’s displayed recent-review figure is not Chinese-language data. |
The current Steam figures above are storefront snapshots observed October 8, 2026, and can change. They are English and recent-review statistics, not a current Simplified Chinese score. The reviewed reporting does not establish a current Chinese-language review percentage or count, so it would be misleading to compare one of the old Chinese figures directly with today’s English or recent-review rating.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What did Team Cherry do about the translation?
Public acknowledgment
Team Cherry marketing and publishing head Matthew Griffin acknowledged the complaints. TechRadar reproduced his statement: “To our Chinese speaking fans,” Griffin wrote, “We appreciate you letting us know about quality issues with the current Simplified Chinese translation of Hollow Knight: Silksong. We’ll be working to improve the translation over the coming weeks. Thanks for your feedback and support.”
Rank #2
- Hollow Knight: Silksong is the epic sequel to Hollow Knight, the award winning action-adventure.
- Journey to all-new lands, discover new powers, battle vast hordes of bugs and beasts and uncover secrets tied to your nature and your past.
Public beta
On October 17, 2025, TechRadar reported that a work-in-progress replacement was available in Steam public beta as patch 1.0.28954. The patch notes described it as a basic implementation and invited players to report issues with clarity, style, spelling, and other aspects of the text.
Patch 4 and Team Cart Fix
Team Cherry’s November 6, 2025 Patch 4 announcement said Team Cart Fix’s fan-provided Simplified Chinese translation was live for PC players; the announcement was later updated to say it was live on all platforms. Team Cherry said the translation retained most existing character and place names while correcting errors or inconsistencies with Hollow Knight. It also described the translators as fans familiar with the lore and connections across both games.
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- Classic side-scrolling action, with all the modern trimmings.
- Tightly tuned 2D controls. Dodge, dash and slash your way through even the most deadly adversaries.
- Explore a vast interconnected world of forgotten highways, overgrown wilds and ruined cities.
- Forge your own path! The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face and find your own way forward.
- Evolve with powerful new skills and abilities! Gain spells, strength and speed. Leap to new heights on ethereal wings. Dash forward in a blazing flash. Blast foes with fiery Soul!.Equip Charms! Ancient relics that offer bizarre new powers and abilities. Choose your favourites and make your journey unique!.An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation..
Patch 4’s translation update is a change to the game text, not a retroactive change to launch reviews. The announcement establishes the new translation’s rollout, but it does not establish that it changed every player’s view or provide a current Simplified Chinese review score.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
![Hollow Knight - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51nXCF+sf5L._SL160_.jpg)
- Classic side-scrolling action, with all the modern trimmings.
- Forge your own path! The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face and find your own way forward.
- Evolve with powerful new skills and abilities! Gain spells, strength and speed. Leap to new heights on ethereal wings. Dash forward in a blazing flash. Blast foes with fiery Soul!
- Equip Charms! Ancient relics that offer bizarre new powers and abilities. Choose your favorites and make your journey unique!
- An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation.
What should players take away?
- The reported review controversy was about the game’s Simplified Chinese localization, not evidence that Chinese-speaking players generally disliked Silksong.
- Launch-period labels and percentages describe particular dates and language filters; they should not be presented as current ratings.
- Team Cherry acknowledged quality issues, put a replacement in public beta, and later credited Team Cart Fix for the Patch 4 translation.
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