Silksong Stampede: Hollow Knight Launch Crashes Steam and Nintendo eShop as Fans Flood Downloads
Hollow Knight: Silksong’s launch caused major traffic on digital stores on Thursday morning, and as a result both Steam and the Nintendo eShop experienced outages and error messages for many users.
Steam and Steam Deck errors
Around 10 a.m. EDT, when Hollow Knight: Silksong was scheduled to launch on Windows PC, many visitors reported trouble loading the Steam store. In some cases the Steam website, the desktop client, and the store on Steam Deck showed an error message that read: “Something Went Wrong. We were unable to service your request. Please try again later. E502 L3.”
Furthermore, users reported thousands of outage reports on DownDetector; the site shows a spike in problem reports during the same morning. For reference, you can view those reports on DownDetector’s Steam status page.
Partial recovery
However, Steam did not remain fully down the whole time. The store sometimes loaded successfully, indicating intermittent availability rather than a complete, prolonged outage.
Nintendo eShop connection problems
At the same time, visitors to the Nintendo eShop saw connection errors when trying to open the Hollow Knight: Silksong page. The eShop displayed the message: “Error Code: 2811-7429. Couldn’t connect to the server. The network may be busy, or there may be a problem with the server. Please try again later.”
Therefore, both major digital storefronts experienced issues that affected access to the game’s store pages and downloads.
Likely cause and preload note
Many players attempting to download Silksong did so at launch time, and this surge in traffic corresponded with the reported errors. As a result, platforms briefly struggled to handle the load.
In addition, Team Cherry did not make Silksong available for preload ahead of its Sept. 4 release across multiple platforms, which likely concentrated download attempts at launch.
Availability
Hollow Knight: Silksong is listed as available on multiple platforms including Linux, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Despite the store hiccups, the game became available for players once the traffic issues eased.
For those trying to reach the Steam store directly, the official Steam product page can be accessed here: Hollow Knight: Silksong on Steam.
