Not to be confused with William Pullen.
William Pellen
Birth placeAdelaide, South Australia, Australia
Occupation
TitleCo-founder and co-director of Team Cherry (2014–present)
Years active2008-present
Alma materTAFE SA
Notable worksHollow Knight
Hollow Knight: Silksong
William Pellen
Twitter handleeverydruidwaswr
Twitter topicShitposting
Twitter followers9,661 (29 May 2026)

William Pellen is an Australian video game designer and former web designer, best known for his work on Hollow Knight (2017) and its sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025). He is also the co-founder and co-director of the games' development studio, Team Cherry.

Early life and education

William Pellen was born in Adelaide, South Australia.[1][2]

Pellen was interested in creating video games even as a child, spending "a lot of time drawing imaginary video game levels", which got him interested in the industry.[3] He notes one of his earliest forays into actually creating software was using software like RPG Maker. He played around with such software for "years", "without any notion that one day [he] could actually get a job doing it".[4] He earned Diplomas of Digital Media and of Website Development from TAFE SA.[3][5]

Career

Further information: Hollow Knight#Development and Hollow Knight: Silksong#Development

Pellen worked for the company Optus from 2008 to 2011, in multiple roles.[5] He was also formerly a freelance web designer, creating websites for clients such as the Lake Albert Caravan Park, with his website being named "Wilco Design".[6][7][8] He also worked for a company as a web designer—likely Inprint Design Adelaide[5]—with his friend Ari Gibson describing him as the "lynchpin [of] the entire operation" during his time there.[7] As a hobby, he was an indie game developer, creating small flash games.[4] By the time he co-formed Team Cherry, he had been working "part-time" for a while.[7]

In 2014, Pellen co-founded the video game studio Team Cherry with Ari Gibson, whom he had previously worked with on flash games, including ones made for game jams. They started a Kickstarter project for their then-upcoming game Hollow Knight, which was a success; the game released in 2017 to critical acclaim. Pellen worked on the game's overall design, and also co-directed its development.[9]

He later worked on a piece of Hollow Knight downloadable content that eventually evolved into a sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong.[10] The game's development took over seven years, though Pellen described the process as enjoyable.[11] Silksong released on 4 September 2025, also to critical acclaim.[12]

Personal life

Pellen is married,[13][14] and has two children, with a third on the way as of August 2025.[11] His future-wife supported him financially during development of Hollow Knight.[7] He maintains a close relationship with his parents, with them both being active in Hollow Knight Facebook groups, and involved in voice acting for his games.[15][16][17]

Pellen owns a Twitter account, "little bomey", that he uses to shitpost.[18][19] In January 2025, the account posted a cryptic tweet and changed multiple other aspects, leading fans to believe he was creating an ARG hinting at April 2nd, the date of a then-upcoming Nintendo Direct. While later denied by Team Cherry marketing manager Matthew Griffin, Silksong did appear at the direct.[20][18][21][22][23]

Ludography

YearTitle
2012Return to Booty Grotto[6]
2013Tomb Cat[24]
Hungry Knight[9]
2017Hollow Knight[9]
2025Hollow Knight: Silksong[10]

Cancelled games

Title
Lulanda[a]
Wilco LCD Classics[6]

Notes

  1. ^ While Lulanda was never released, two demos were.[25][26]

References

  1. ^ Thorsland, Dan (2019-03-28). "How Adelaide developers are taking on the gaming world". Adelaide Review. Archived 2025-04-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  2. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (May 1, 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong will be playable in September 2025 — at an Australian museum". IGN. Archived 1 May 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  3. ^ "Pixels Rising Interview with Team Cherry — creators of Hollow Knight". Radio Adelaide. April 2016. Archived 2 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  4. ^ Yeo 2021, p. 117.
  5. ^ Pellen, William. "William Pellen". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  6. ^ Pellen, William. "Wilco Design Portfolio". Archived from the original on 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  7. ^ Yeo 2021, p. 120.
  8. ^ Yeo 2021, p. 126.
  9. ^ Milner, David. "The Making Of Hollow Knight". Game Informer. Archived 6 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  10. ^ Sirani, Jordan (14 February 2024). "Hollow Knight: Silksong – Everything We Know About the 2D Metroidvania Sequel". IGN. Archived 24 February 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  11. ^ Schreier, Jason (August 21, 2025). "Why 'Silksong' Took Seven Years to Make". Bloomberg. Archived August 21, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  12. ^ Pritchard, Marie (1 September 2025). "Hollow Knight Silksong release date". Eurogamer. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  13. ^ Yeo 2021, p. 119.
  14. ^ Hamilton, Kirk (2018-09-02). "The Makers Of Hollow Knight Are Fine With Players Missing Things". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  15. ^ Dealessandri, Marie (2018-07-31). "When We Made… Hollow Knight". MCV/Develop. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  16. ^ Yeo 2021, p. 122.
  17. ^ Yeo 2021, p. 125.
  18. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (17 January 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong Dev Fuels Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Fever With a Picture of a Chocolate Cake". IGN. Archived 2025-04-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  19. ^ Philips, Tom (17 January 2025). "Silksong fans believe creator's Switch 2 tease points to April game announcement - and it's all thanks to a slice of cake". Eurogamer. Archived 29 April 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
  20. ^ Randall, Harvey (17 January 2025). "The Silksong hive is buzzing over a dev tweet that sees a chocolate cake, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Imagine Dragons all pointing with red string to the April Switch 2 Nintendo Direct". PC Gamer. Archived 2025-01-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  21. ^ Philips, Tom (17 January 2025). "Silksong fans believe creator's Switch 2 tease points to April game announcement - and it's all thanks to a slice of cake". Eurogamer. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  22. ^ Randall, Harvey (21 January 2025). "The cake was a lie, but Silksong 'is real, progressing and will release' say devs, after flurry of conspiracy theories revealed to be a 'nothingburger'". PC Gamer. Archived 2025-04-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  23. ^ Warren, Mark (3 April 2025). "In Hollow Knight: Silksong's case, the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct cake was somehow not a lie". VG247. Archived 2025-04-10 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  24. ^ Ofner, Claudia Susanne (2021). Play Me a Story: Storytelling in the Metroidvania Game Hollow Knight (Master's thesis). Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  25. ^ "Lulanda Prelude v6". Stencyl. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  26. ^ "Lulanda Demo 2". Newgrounds. Retrieved 2025-09-01.

Bibliography