How Hollow Knight: Silksong Became 2025’s Indie Gaming Juggernaut

2025 was meant to be all about Grand Theft Auto VI, but guess what? The indie kids are stealing the spotlight. The long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong dropped this year and caused such a frenzy that Steam, the Nintendo eShop, and the Xbox store literally buckled under demand. Not to be outdone, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 swooped in with its dreamy visuals and devastating story, turning indie darlings into full-blown cultural juggernauts.

We’re living in an era where a handful of developers with a killer idea can go toe-to-toe with billion-dollar studios, and win.

Team Cherry’s Adelaide-based trio already had a cult hit with 2017’s Hollow Knight. The sequel, Silksong, was hyped to mythical proportions, think “Beyoncé surprise album” levels of anticipation. And when Hornet’s standalone adventure finally arrived, it didn’t just meet expectations, it obliterated them.

With lush, hand-drawn worlds, refined combat, and more lore than you can dig through in a month of speedruns, Silksong is a masterclass in indie ambition. The fact that it came out of a small South Australian studio makes its success even sweeter.

While Silksong was the expected indie megahit, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was the dark horse of 2025. French studio Sandfall Interactive dropped a turn-based RPG so pretty it looks like you’re playing a moving oil painting. The narrative? Absolutely heart-wrenching. The gameplay? Genius. The hype? Well, let’s just say their servers didn’t survive day one either.

This was the year the little guys flexed harder than the giants.

If Silksong’s triumph feels like a win for Australian gaming, that’s because it is. The land down under has been quietly cooking up some of the most innovative titles in the industry. Just look at Cult of the Lamb turning adorable cult management into a global obsession, or Unpacking making us cry over pixelated moving boxes. Aussie studios are proving that creativity thrives in unexpected places, and the world is finally paying attention.

Between Silksong and Clair Obscur, it’s clear 2025 is an indie renaissance. Digital distribution and social media have flattened the playing field, letting small studios compete directly with Hollywood-level budgets. And players? They’re voting with their wallets, choosing games that feel fresh, heartfelt, and lovingly handcrafted over bombastic explosions and endless microtransactions.

This isn’t just a fluke, it’s a cultural shift. The most exciting games right now aren’t necessarily the biggest; they’re the boldest.

When a three-person studio in Adelaide can break the internet, you know gaming has entered a new golden age. Indies aren’t the scrappy underdogs anymore, they’re redefining what we expect from video games. And if Silksong and Clair Obscur are any indication, the future of gaming isn’t just bright. It’s hand-painted, heartfelt, and a little bit Aussie.