Silksong Subreddit'i Absürt "Dreamer" Yarışması Düzenliyor, Yayınlanmadan Önce Hayranları Yasaklıyor

The wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong has been dragging on since its 2019 announcement, but instead of falling apart, the community is turning up the absurdity. In a new Reddit contest, the Silksong subreddit is selecting three members to be banned until the game finally launches. They’re calling them “Dreamers,” and yes, this is real.

The contest, posted by moderator kurgow on Reddit, is a tongue-in-cheek event to celebrate the upcoming (though still undated) release of Silksong. Inspired by the lore of the original Hollow Knight, where Dreamers are characters who had to be sealed away to protect the world, this contest lets fans vote on who in the subreddit should be sacrificed. The winners will be banned from participating in the subreddit, only to be unbanned when the game finally drops.

It’s chaos in the most Silksong way possible.

Three Dreamers will be chosen by community vote on July 2, but a fourth has already been selected. Reddit user HopOffRedditRn, also referred to in the contest post as the “Skonger,” has been crowned the lead Dreamer. This user apparently came up with the entire idea and, as the contest post boldly puts it:

“The strongest one shall lead them.”

That’s not a quote from the game. That’s from the contest thread.

This whole thing reflects what the Silksong subreddit has become over the years: part theory-crafting think tank, part high-effort meme factory, and part online cult. It’s a place where users frequently post fake game announcements, swap conspiracy theories about every tweet from Team Cherry, and create elaborate lore for each other as if Silksong were already out.

The subreddit has over 160,000 members. Many of them identify as either “believers” (yes, spelled like that on purpose) or “doubters,” factions that have grown out of the long development cycle and the total silence from Team Cherry. The fact that fans have embraced this absurdity rather than splintering apart is what makes this community different.

This contest is one of the more bizarre fan-run events seen in any game community, especially considering the only prize is not being able to post for an unknown amount of time. And yet, the thread already has hundreds of comments. People are openly campaigning to be banned. They’re making art, writing campaign posts, and throwing each other under the bus — all for a spot in the Dreamer pantheon.

There’s nothing official about the contest. Team Cherry hasn’t acknowledged it, and the only thing it influences is participation in one subreddit. But in a space that’s gone years without a firm release date, where the latest trailer still hasn’t arrived, this kind of community-run activity fills the vacuum.

While some fandoms fall into negativity during long waits, the Silksong crowd built its own world. A surreal, slightly cursed one, but still — a place where people log in daily to make jokes, decode pixelated footage, and write fanfiction about unannounced NPCs. The game doesn’t even need to exist yet. The community acts like it already does.

And when the game does finally launch, the Dreamers will return. The rules of the contest are clear: the banned users will be unsealed the moment Silksong is released. Whenever that is. Until then, they’ll be martyrs for the meme.

This contest is a perfect example of how community strength doesn’t come from the developers — it comes from the fans themselves. Even with no game to play, the Silksong subreddit has managed to remain active, entertaining, and weird in a way that feels totally unique. The Dreamer contest shows how inside jokes, lore references, and a shared sense of patience (or stubbornness) can create a lasting identity.

The sacrifice of users for the sake of the bit isn’t just internet humor — it’s a symbolic act of dedication to a game no one’s played yet. It’s fandom turned performance art. And the fact that over 900 users are interacting with a contest where the prize is “go away until the game drops” speaks to how committed this base really is.

Silksong isn’t just another anticipated game — it’s become a community ritual. Events like this make it clear that, no matter how long it takes, the fans aren’t going anywhere.

When the game finally releases, there will be a flood of excitement. But for the Silksong subreddit, part of the magic will be what they had before that day — the strange, handcrafted madness they built together in the long, long wait.