Is Hollow Knight Cross Platform? Crossplay Guide 2026
Sarah Chen|No, Hollow Knight doesn’t support cross-platform play. This indie action-platformer is designed as a purely single-player experience with no multiplayer features, making crossplay functionality irrelevant.
Hollow Knight stands as one of the most acclaimed indie games of recent years. If you’re looking to team up with friends across different platforms, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Team Cherry built this metroidvania as a solo adventure through the haunting underground kingdom of Hallownest.
Hollow Knight Cross-Platform Support Explained
Hollow Knight has zero cross-platform functionality because it lacks any form of multiplayer connectivity. The game exists entirely as a single-player experience where you control the Knight through interconnected underground areas, battle bosses, and uncover the kingdom’s mysteries alone.
Team Cherry released Hollow Knight across multiple platforms including PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, macOS, and Linux. However, each version operates independently with no online features connecting players between platforms. You won’t find co-op modes, competitive multiplayer, leaderboards, or any other features that would benefit from cross-platform support.
The absence of crossplay isn’t an oversight or limitation — it’s by design. Hollow Knight focuses entirely on delivering a rich single-player adventure with tight platforming mechanics, challenging combat, and atmospheric exploration. The game’s structure simply doesn’t require or benefit from cross-platform connectivity.
Which Platforms Can Play Together?
Since Hollow Knight doesn’t feature multiplayer, the concept of platforms “playing together” doesn’t apply. Here’s the current platform availability:
| Platform | Crossplay Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PC (Windows) | N/A | Single-player only |
| macOS | N/A | Single-player only |
| Linux | N/A | Single-player only |
| PlayStation 4 | N/A | Single-player only |
| Xbox One | N/A | Single-player only |
| Nintendo Switch | N/A | Single-player only |
Each platform version offers the complete Hollow Knight experience independently. Your choice of platform should depend on your preferred gaming setup rather than multiplayer considerations.
Why Hollow Knight Doesn’t Have Crossplay
Hollow Knight doesn’t have crossplay because it doesn’t need it. Team Cherry designed the game as a metroidvania — a genre traditionally focused on solo exploration and progression. The entire experience revolves around you discovering secrets, mastering combat techniques, and progressing through the world at your own pace.
Adding multiplayer features would fundamentally change Hollow Knight’s core design philosophy. The game’s pacing, difficulty curve, and atmospheric storytelling all assume a single player experiencing the journey alone. Combat encounters are precisely balanced for one character, and the intricate map design encourages personal discovery rather than cooperative exploration.
Team Cherry has never indicated interest in adding multiplayer functionality to Hollow Knight. Their focus remains on single-player experiences, as evidenced by their upcoming sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong, which also appears designed as a solo adventure.
Cross-Save and Progress Transfer
While Hollow Knight doesn’t support crossplay, cross-save functionality is equally absent. Your save data remains locked to the platform where you created it. If you own Hollow Knight on Nintendo Switch and decide to purchase it on PC, you’ll start fresh with no way to transfer your progress.
This means each platform purchase represents a separate playthrough opportunity. Some players actually prefer this setup, as it lets them experience the game multiple times across different devices. However, if you’re looking to maintain a single save file across platforms, you’ll be disappointed.
Steam Cloud saves work within the PC ecosystem, backing up your progress across different Windows, macOS, and Linux installations using the same Steam account. Console versions use their respective cloud save systems (PlayStation Plus, Xbox Live Gold) but can’t communicate with other platforms.
Limitations to Keep in Mind
The biggest limitation is obvious: no multiplayer means no shared experiences with friends. If you’re hoping to explore Hallownest alongside others or compare progress in real-time, Hollow Knight won’t accommodate those desires.
Platform-specific features also remain isolated. Achievements earned on Xbox don’t carry over to PlayStation trophies or Steam achievements. Your completion percentage, unlocked areas, and collected items exist only within each platform’s ecosystem.
Additionally, different platforms may receive updates at different times. While Team Cherry generally aims for simultaneous releases, console certification processes sometimes create delays. This rarely affects gameplay significantly, but it means patch notes might not apply universally across all versions immediately.
Can I play Hollow Knight with friends online?
No, Hollow Knight offers no online multiplayer functionality. The game is designed exclusively as a single-player experience. You cannot join friends’ games, compete in online modes, or share any gameplay experiences directly through the game itself. If you want to share your Hollow Knight journey with friends, you’ll need to rely on external communication methods like voice chat or streaming platforms.
Will Team Cherry add crossplay to Hollow Knight in the future?
Team Cherry has shown no indication of adding crossplay or any multiplayer features to Hollow Knight. The developers have focused their efforts on completing Hollow Knight: Silksong, their upcoming sequel. Given that Hollow Knight’s core design philosophy centers around solo exploration and atmospheric storytelling, adding multiplayer functionality would require fundamental changes that seem unlikely at this stage of the game’s lifecycle.
Does the lack of crossplay affect which platform I should choose?
Since crossplay isn’t a factor, choose your platform based on personal preferences like portability, performance, or price. The Nintendo Switch version offers handheld play, while PC versions typically provide the best performance and mod support. All versions contain the complete game experience, so your decision should focus on how and where you prefer to play rather than multiplayer connectivity concerns.
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Sarah Chen
Sarah Chen is the Reviews and Guides Editor at Explosion.com. With a background in game design studies and 6 years of gaming journalism, Sarah brings technical insight to her reviews and creates comprehensive guides that help players get the most out of their games. She has reviewed over 200 titles across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms. Her current obsessions include FromSoftware titles and indie roguelikes.
