There are three games that dominated community discussions in recent years, as fans debated whether they were real or not. Grand Theft Auto VI, some sort of Bloodborne sequel or remake, and Hollow Knight: Silksong. Then, the world rejoiced as one of them turned out to be real. However, Hollow Knight: Silksong's launch wasn't a pleasant surprise for all.
Speaking with Skill Up's Friends Per Second podcast, Hell is Us creative director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête spoke about the unfortunate situation developer Rogue Factor found itself in. "When you know you're that big, I think a shadow drop is a bit like - wow," he said. "As the 'GTA 6 of indie'... to shadow drop something like this is a little callous."
Jacques-Belletête then went on to say that there was a discussion with Hell is Us' publisher Nacon about changing the release date, which unfortunately fell on the same day as Hollow Knight: Silksong's launch. However, that would have involved refunding pre-orders, and even if Rogue Factor was ready to weather the storm, they know Silksong affected sales.
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"That's the thing nowadays, honestly - getting a window where you're pretty much alone is almost impossible," said Jacques-Belletête, explaining how tricky it is to find a release window in today's gaming world. "15 years ago, the mid-end of the summer was always a dead period. But there's no such thing anymore. It's just constant madness."
Hell is Us still impressed us, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with it in our network review. However, the hope now is that the word-of-mouth from reviewers and those who played at launch will give Hell is Us steady sales over time, now that it's launch has been overshadowed by a titan.