Team Cherry is giving the original Hollow Knight a free Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade in 2026, alongside a major refresh patch already in public beta on PC. Here’s how the resolution, frame rate, input, and aspect-ratio overhauls preserve the classic while preparing returning players for Silksong’s expansion.
Hollow Knight is about to get its biggest update in years, and it is not a sequel.
Alongside Hollow Knight: Silksong’s newly announced Sea of Sorrow expansion in 2026, Team Cherry is quietly refreshing the original game for modern hardware. That includes a full Nintendo Switch 2 Edition that will be a free upgrade for existing Switch owners, plus a broad technical pass that is already partly visible on PC through a public beta branch.
If you are planning a return trip to Hallownest before diving into more Hornet content, this refresh is being built for you. Here is what the upgrade looks like today, what we can infer about the Switch 2 version, and whether it is worth replaying the original in 2026.
What Team Cherry has confirmed so far
In their Holiday 2025 blog post, Team Cherry outlined a two-pronged plan for the original Hollow Knight.
First, every current platform is getting a update aimed at both preservation and modern play. On PC, many of these changes are already testable via the Steam and GOG public beta branches, where the studio is methodically improving resolution support, input handling, and stability.
Second, a specific Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is in development for 2026. Team Cherry describes it as inheriting the same style of enhancements Silksong enjoys on Switch 2: higher resolutions, high frame rate options, and extra visual effects. MyNintendoNews and Siliconera both report that this will be a free upgrade for anyone who already owns Hollow Knight on Nintendo Switch, which neatly frames it as a preservation effort rather than a new SKU.
Put together, it is less a remake and more a careful remaster that keeps the feel of 2017 Hollow Knight while aligning it with the expectations players now have after Silksong.
Resolution and aspect ratios: finally fitting modern screens
The most visible change in the current public beta is how Hollow Knight handles displays.
For years, the game essentially targeted 16:9 and treated anything else as an edge case. Ultrawide monitors and 16:10 laptops could run it, but players often had to accept pillarboxing, stretching, or community-made fixes. Team Cherry is now baking proper support directly into the game.
The public beta patch notes highlight:
- Native support for 16:10, which matters a lot for common gaming laptops and devices like the Steam Deck.
- Native support for 21:9 ultrawide, which lets Hollow Knight finally fill out modern desktop setups without hacks.
On PC, that means cleaner image scaling, correct camera framing, and fewer compromises if you are playing on anything besides a basic 1080p monitor.
Translated to Switch 2, these changes matter in two ways. First, the handheld itself is almost certainly going to have a sharper, potentially slightly different aspect display than the original Switch. A more flexible renderer means Hollow Knight can scale crisply to whatever native resolution Nintendo chooses without blurriness or off-center UI.
Second, docked mode on a 4K TV or ultrawide-friendly monitor should look sharper and more consistent. Even if Team Cherry keeps the internal rendering resolution below 4K, cleaner scaling rules and better aspect handling mean the game can present a stable image with less shimmering and fewer artifacts when stretched to modern living room displays.
For returning players, the bottom line is that Hollow Knight should simply look “right” in 2026, whether you are on a Deck, a 1440p monitor, or a new Switch 2 dock.
Frame rate and performance: matching Silksong’s smoothness
Team Cherry’s Holiday 2025 update describes the Switch 2 Edition as benefiting from the same kind of high frame rate modes that Silksong uses on the platform. They have not pinned an exact target in public materials, but the implication is clear: where the original Switch version sometimes struggled to maintain a consistent 60 frames per second in heavy areas, Switch 2 is being treated as the hardware that finally lets Hollow Knight run at its ideal performance profile.
On PC, the public beta branches are already focused on stability and consistency. Community reports and coverage from GamingOnLinux point to smoother frame pacing, fewer micro stutters when loading new rooms, and improved behavior when alt-tabbing or changing display modes. All of that is foundational work for higher, steadier frame rates on new consoles.
If you have spent the last year playing Silksong at a locked 60 on modern hardware, jumping back into the original on an old Switch can feel surprisingly rough. Animations are still gorgeous, but slight dips during boss fights or dense areas make combat less predictable than it should be.
The Switch 2 Edition aims to close that gap. Assuming Team Cherry keeps the native resolution sensible and leans on the stronger CPU and memory bandwidth of Nintendo’s new hardware, there is a clear path to the smooth, silky feel players now expect from Silksong. That is a preservation win as much as a quality-of-life one, because it keeps the game’s precise combat readable and responsive for new audiences.
Input overhaul: making the Knight feel more modern without losing the original timing
The Holiday 2025 blog and follow-up coverage mention “improvements to input” and preparation work across all versions of Hollow Knight. While Team Cherry has not published a exhaustive list of controller changes, there are a few likely focus areas based on current beta behavior and Silksong’s own feature set.
On PC, the public beta builds tighten up how the game talks to modern controllers. Players report more reliable detection of Xbox and PlayStation pads, better hot-plug behavior, and fewer edge cases where the game would suddenly flip between keyboard and controller prompts. That might sound mundane, but for a precision platformer, removing any muddying of input processing is critical.
With the Switch 2 Edition, you can expect that work to extend to Nintendo’s newer controllers. Lower input latency from the hardware, cleaner button remapping, and support for the full feature set of the new Joy-Con or Pro Controller make it easier to reach the exacting consistency veteran players chase when speedrunning or tackling Pantheon runs.
The tricky balance is to make inputs feel snappier without changing the underlying timing windows that define Hollow Knight’s combat and platforming. Everything Team Cherry has shown so far points to a conservative approach: polish the input layer, not the move set. So dashes, pogo timings, and nail swings should retain their original rhythm, just with fewer small annoyances between your thumb and the Knight’s response.
For returning players gearing up for Silksong’s expansion, that familiarity is key. You will be able to re-learn muscle memory in the original game without having to rewire for a different combat system.
Visual refinements without rewriting the art
One of the more encouraging details in Team Cherry’s messaging is the repeated emphasis on “additional graphical effects” rather than new art pipelines. Hollow Knight remains a hand-drawn game that rides on careful animation and strong silhouettes, and the refresh seems determined to preserve that.
On Switch 2, that probably means three broad improvements.
First, higher internal resolution for art assets, paired with cleaner scaling. The Switch 1 version of Hollow Knight could look a little soft in handheld mode, especially on later OLED units. With more power and a sharper screen, the Switch 2 Edition can present the original art with less blur and fewer aliasing artifacts.
Second, more stable and subtle post processing. Even modest tweaks to bloom, depth-based effects, and color grading can significantly improve dark, layered scenes like the Deepnest or the Royal Waterways. The Holiday 2025 post specifically compares the original’s refresh to the way Silksong already looks on Switch 2, which is a hint that they are reusing that tuned pipeline.
Third, better handling of UI scale. On a high-resolution handheld, small UI elements risk becoming tiny. The aspect-ratio and resolution work in the PC beta should translate into smarter UI scaling on Switch 2, so maps, health masks, and text retain their legibility whether you are docked or portable.
For preservation, this approach matters. Rather than redrawing backgrounds or altering the tone of areas, Team Cherry seems interested in letting the existing art breathe at the resolution it always deserved.
How the PC beta foreshadows the Switch 2 version
Because the refresh is rolling out first as a public beta on PC, you can already see how the work is structured.
The Steam and GOG beta branches focus on the foundation: display handling, multi-monitor behavior, aspect-ratio correctness, and controller robustness. Fixing these things on platforms that are notoriously varied in hardware makes it easier to lock in a stable build on a fixed spec console.
If you want a preview of how the Switch 2 Edition will feel, trying the PC beta on a mid-range laptop or Steam Deck is a good proxy. You get higher resolution output, cleaner scaling, and a smoother input experience, all while the art and layout remain unchanged. It is essentially a “feel pass” on the game that you can already sample.
The missing piece is console-specific polish: integration with Nintendo’s system UI, suspend and resume behavior, controller features, and platform certification. Those do not show up in the PC beta, but they are the sort of last-mile work that tends to happen quietly in the run-up to a new console launch.
Should you revisit Hollow Knight before Silksong’s expansion?
With Sea of Sorrow slated as a substantial, free Silksong expansion in 2026 and the original’s Switch 2 Edition targeting the same window, the obvious question is whether it is worth replaying the first game at all.
There are a few angles to consider.
If you mainly care about story context, the refresh is a strong excuse to experience Hollow Knight again. You get the most polished version of Hallownest that has ever existed, in a form that better matches what you have recently played in Silksong. Boss patterns, lore drops, and environmental storytelling all benefit from the improved clarity and performance.
If you are a systems-focused player, the upgraded frame rate and input layer make the game more competitive with Silksong’s handling. Practicing nail combat in the Pantheons, perfecting pogo chains, or exploring charm synergies will translate directly into sharper play once you swap back to Hornet’s kit for the expansion.
If you mostly care about technical preservation and future proofing, the refresh is significant. A free Switch 2 upgrade means Hollow Knight avoids the limbo that many older Switch titles fall into when new hardware arrives. It remains playable, stable, and visually clean on modern displays instead of being stuck at a fixed 720p baseline.
The one strong reason to wait rather than jump in immediately is that the full console rollout is not here yet. If you only own the game on Switch, it makes sense to hold your grand replay for the actual Switch 2 Edition in 2026. PC players, on the other hand, can safely experiment with the public beta now and then come back for the finalized patch when it exits testing.
How to prepare your return run in 2026
If your plan is to revisit Hollow Knight as a warmup for Silksong’s Sea of Sorrow, it may be worth thinking about your route.
The technical refresh turns the original into a more comfortable long-term play. Stable performance, accurate aspect ratios, and improved input reduce fatigue and make tough areas like Path of Pain or the Absolute Radiance fight less of an ordeal from a visibility and reaction standpoint.
That makes 2026 an ideal time to try a more ambitious run. A full completion file with Godmaster and all endings. Charm-restricted or no-hit challenges. Or simply a relaxed, exploratory save where you revisit the corners of Hallownest you rushed through in 2017.
Whatever your goal, the key takeaway is that Team Cherry is not just shipping more content for Silksong. They are quietly shoring up the foundation of the series, using modern hardware to preserve Hollow Knight in a form that feels aligned with the sequel rather than left behind by it.
When Switch 2 launches and the free upgrade lands, Hollow Knight will not just be playable there. It will be ready to stand alongside Silksong as a companion piece, with the same respect for performance, presentation, and input that made the sequel sing.