September 05, 2025
Hollow Knight: Silksong's Launch Could Foreshadow GTA 6's Historic Release How the Release of Hollow Knight: Silksong Gave a Sneak Peek Into GTA 6's Potential Impact
On September 4, 2025, the highly anticipated release of Hollow Knight: Silksong created a frenzy across gaming platforms, causing a significant outage on Steam and other storefronts due to an overwhelming surge in players. While Hollow Knight: Silksong is an indie game with a modest budget and development team, its release offers a sneak peek at the potential chaos that could accompany the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6) in 2026.
🎮 The "Silksong Incident" and GTA 6’s Launch
As fans flocked to Hollow Knight: Silksong, Steam experienced an almost two-hour outage with over 70,000 users reporting problems via Downdetector, a server downtime tracker. The timing of this disruption—coinciding with the game's release at 7 AM PT—suggests that Team Cherry’s highly anticipated Metroidvania title was so popular it caused a server overload. The issues weren't limited to Steam, as Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo’s online stores also experienced technical difficulties.
This event, now being referred to as the "Silksong Incident", raises an important question: How will gaming platforms handle the release of Grand Theft Auto 6, one of the most highly anticipated games in history, when it launches on May 26, 2026?
🚗 GTA 6’s Potential to Break Records
The success of Hollow Knight: Silksong is impressive, with 530,000 concurrent players on Steam at launch—a massive achievement for an indie title. However, Grand Theft Auto 6 is expected to surpass this figure by a wide margin. GTA 5, its predecessor, sold over 11 million copies on its release day and set six Guinness World Records. The franchise's massive reach and the unprecedented success of GTA 5 make it clear that GTA 6 will likely shatter records again.
If a game like Silksong can bring down servers, GTA 6—which some industry veterans are calling the first "AAAAA" title—could cause an even larger impact. Given the franchise's history of record-breaking success, Rockstar's open-world game will likely be the biggest launch in gaming history, and we can expect chaos across all platforms when it arrives.
⚠️ The Need for Preparation Ahead of GTA 6’s Launch
While the Silksong release was an example of what can go wrong with a popular game launch, it also serves as a wake-up call for platform holders. A massive DDoS attack during the launch of Black Myth: Wukong on August 24, 2024 caused issues for millions of PC players, and analysts warn that GTA 6’s release could trigger a much larger disruption unless gaming platforms take proactive steps.
📝 Conclusion
The Hollow Knight: Silksong launch offers a glimpse of what the Grand Theft Auto 6 release could look like in terms of server strain, traffic, and platform instability. With the GTA franchise’s history of monumental launches, gaming platforms will need to be prepared for the unprecedented impact when GTA 6 hits the market in 2026. Fans can expect a massive event, and platforms will need to ensure their infrastructure can handle the rush.