Team Cherry confirmed more than 7 million copies purchased worldwide by December 15, 2025. The developer also said millions of people were playing through Xbox Game Pass, which is a participation figure rather than a purchase count. For Steam specifically, tracker Raijin estimated 8.7 million copies as of October 1, 2026, with medium confidence. That Steam number is not an official Team Cherry total, and no official Steam-only figure has been published in the available statements.
How many copies has Silksong sold officially?
The strongest confirmed number is Team Cherry’s statement that more than seven million people had purchased Hollow Knight: Silksong by December 15, 2025. Ari Gibson, writing for Team Cherry, described the milestone as “over seven million of you who’ve purchased the game,” then separately referred to “millions more” playing through Xbox Game Pass.
This is a cumulative, all-platform purchase figure. Team Cherry did not disclose how many of those purchases were on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation or other storefronts. It also did not publish a regional breakdown, revenue total or a platform-by-platform sales table with the announcement.
That distinction matters because the title’s wording asks about Steam sales, while the official milestone covers purchases across the game’s supported platforms. The seven-million-plus figure is therefore the best confirmed answer to “how many copies has Silksong sold?” but it cannot be used as a Steam-only total.
What is the current estimate for Silksong’s Steam sales?
Raijin estimated that Silksong had sold 8.7 million copies on Steam as of October 1, 2026 (UTC). Raijin labels the figure medium confidence and also estimates $104.6 million in Steam gross revenue for the same date.
Those are tracker estimates, not numbers released by Team Cherry or Valve. Raijin’s methodology and confidence label should remain attached whenever the figure is quoted. Calling 8.7 million an official Steam sales total would overstate what is known.
| Measure | Figure | Date | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Cherry purchases | More than 7 million | December 15, 2025 | All platforms; platform split not given | Official cumulative statement |
| Raijin Steam sales | 8.7 million | October 1, 2026 (UTC) | Steam only | Estimate; medium confidence |
| Raijin Steam gross revenue | $104.6 million | October 1, 2026 (UTC) | Steam only | Estimate; medium confidence |
| GameDiscoverCo estimate reported by PC Gamer | More than 3.2 million Steam copies | September 15, 2025 | Steam only; early launch snapshot | Historical estimate |
The table places unlike measurements side by side, but it does not make them additive. The official figure is a purchase count across platforms at an earlier date; the Raijin figure is a later estimate for Steam alone. Different populations, dates and methods prevent a clean mathematical combination.
Why can the Steam estimate be higher than the official all-platform milestone?
The dates and measurement types explain the apparent contradiction. Team Cherry’s seven-million-plus announcement was made in December 2025 and included purchases on every platform. Raijin’s 8.7 million figure is dated October 2026 and attempts to measure Steam sales only. Sales continued between those dates, so a later Steam estimate can exceed an earlier all-platform announcement without proving that either source is wrong.
The two figures also come from different reporting systems. Team Cherry can report its own cumulative purchase records, while Raijin models Steam performance. The developer’s statement is confirmed but broad; the tracker’s statement is platform-specific but estimated. Neither source supplies the missing platform split needed to reconcile the totals precisely.
Do not add 8.7 million to the seven-million-plus figure. Steam buyers are part of the all-platform population represented by Team Cherry, and the periods overlap once the later date is considered. Adding them would count many of the same purchasers twice.
How are Game Pass players counted?
Game Pass access is not the same thing as a purchased copy. Team Cherry’s December 15, 2025 wording puts “millions more” playing on Xbox Game Pass alongside the seven million purchasers, indicating a separate group of players using a subscription benefit.
A Game Pass download or play session does not automatically represent a retail sale to that player. It should therefore be reported as Game Pass participation, not as additional copies sold. The available statement does not provide an exact number of Game Pass players, a download-to-player conversion, or a royalty calculation.
The early launch snapshot reported by PC Gamer illustrates the same separation: GameDiscoverCo estimated more than 3.2 million Steam copies and approximately 1.5 million Game Pass downloads on September 15, 2025. Those values were measured differently even though they were reported together.
What did the early Steam sales estimate show?
On September 15, 2025, PC Gamer reported GameDiscoverCo’s estimate of more than 3.2 million Steam copies. It also reported approximately 1.5 million Game Pass downloads. This was an early launch-period benchmark, not a lifetime total and not a replacement for Team Cherry’s later official milestone.
The figure remains useful as historical context. It shows the scale attributed to the PC launch shortly after release, while the later Raijin estimate reflects more than a year of additional sales. Comparing the dates makes the direction of growth clear without pretending that the estimates were generated with identical methods.
Because the GameDiscoverCo number was an estimate reported by a publication, it carries a different evidentiary status from a statement made directly by Team Cherry. It should be labeled as an early estimate whenever it appears in a sales timeline.
When did Silksong launch on Steam?
Steam lists September 4, 2025 as the release date and identifies Team Cherry as both developer and publisher. The storefront lists the digital game and a digital soundtrack.
The release date provides the starting point for interpreting every sales snapshot. A September 2025 estimate is measuring the first part of the commercial run; the December 2025 announcement covers cumulative purchases through that date; and the October 2026 Raijin estimate covers a later period. Steam’s live storefront information, such as current regional pricing or review totals, should not be treated as sales data.
Is there an official Steam-only sales total?
Not in the statements identified here. Team Cherry’s confirmed milestone does not break out Steam, and the Steam-specific number comes from Raijin’s estimation system. Until the developer publishes a platform split or another primary record appears, 8.7 million should be described as the best cited estimate for Steam on October 1, 2026, not as a confirmed count.
This also means that claims about exact console sales, regional performance or the percentage of buyers on Steam cannot be derived from the published milestone. The available figures support a total-purchases statement and a Steam estimate, but not a detailed platform leaderboard.
How should you quote the sales figures accurately?
Use the source, date, platform scope and confidence in the same sentence. The following wording keeps those qualifications visible:
- “Team Cherry said Silksong had passed seven million purchased copies worldwide by December 15, 2025.”
- “Raijin estimated 8.7 million Steam copies as of October 1, 2026, with medium confidence.”
- “GameDiscoverCo, as reported by PC Gamer on September 15, 2025, estimated more than 3.2 million Steam copies during the early launch period.”
Avoid shortening any of those to “Silksong sold 8.7 million” without identifying Raijin and Steam. Avoid describing Game Pass downloads as sales, and avoid presenting the early 3.2-million estimate as a current figure.
How can readers check for a newer milestone?
Sales totals change, and the official statement currently available is dated December 2025. To evaluate a later claim, check the following items before treating it as an update:
- Look for a direct Team Cherry statement. A developer announcement is the clearest evidence for an official cumulative purchase total.
- Record the date exactly. A figure without an “as of” date cannot be compared fairly with the December 2025 milestone or the October 2026 estimate.
- Identify the platform scope. “All platforms,” “Steam,” and “Game Pass” describe different populations.
- Separate confirmed numbers from modeled estimates. Keep a tracker’s confidence label attached to its result.
- Check whether the number is purchases, downloads, players or revenue. These are not interchangeable metrics.
Following those checks prevents a storefront estimate from being mistaken for a developer disclosure and prevents subscription activity from being counted as a sale.
What official merchandise is connected to Silksong?
Team Cherry has identified Silksong mini-figurines made with artist Alex Colvin of Studio Tyto and Fangamer. The announcement said the figurines were offered individually or as a complete set and pointed readers to Fangamer’s Silksong collection.
That merchandise mention is separate from game sales. The announcement does not establish current stock, future availability, Amazon listings or an affiliate arrangement. The Steam listing itself supports a digital game and digital soundtrack path; it does not verify a physical edition.
What is the defensible answer to “How many copies has Silksong sold?”
The defensible answer has two parts. Officially, Team Cherry reported more than seven million purchased copies worldwide on December 15, 2025, while noting millions more Game Pass players. For Steam alone, Raijin’s medium-confidence estimate was 8.7 million copies on October 1, 2026.
Those figures answer different questions. The first is a confirmed all-platform milestone; the second is a later, third-party Steam estimate. Keeping those categories separate is the only way to report Silksong sales without turning an estimate or a subscription-player count into an official copy total.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the 8.7-million figure include the Xbox version?
No platform expansion is given for that estimate. Raijin labels it as a Steam-only figure, so it should not be used to infer Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo sales.
Are Steam review counts a reliable way to calculate copies sold?
No. Reviews represent a subset of players who chose to post feedback, and the available figures do not establish a conversion rate from reviews to purchases. A review total cannot replace a dated sales statement or a clearly labeled tracker estimate.
Does buying the digital soundtrack count as buying Silksong?
Steam lists the soundtrack separately from the digital game. The published sales statements do not say whether soundtrack purchases are included in any game-copy total, so they should not be folded into the figures above.
Could Team Cherry’s seven-million figure include Game Pass users?
The wording distinguishes people who purchased the game from millions more playing through Game Pass. On that statement, Game Pass participation is presented as a separate measure rather than part of the purchase count.