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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's William Pellen? Pell-en me alone.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Pellen
Pellen at PAX Australia 2024
Born
William Adam Victor Pellen

1985 or 1986 (age 40–41)
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Alma materTAFE SA
Occupations
Years active2008-present
Notable workHollow Knight
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Children2[a]
X information
Handle
TopicShitposting

William Adam Victor Pellen (born 1985 or 1986) is an Australian video game designer and former web designer. He is the co-founder and co-director of the indie game development studio Team Cherry, which developed the highly successful and acclaimed titles Hollow Knight (2017) and Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025).

Pellen began his career at the Australian telecommunications company Optus, working in multiple roles from 2008 to 2011. From 2012 to 2014, he worked as a freelance web designer while also developing video games as a hobby. Pellen co-founded Team Cherry alongside Ari Gibson in 2014.

Early life and education

[edit]

William Adam Victor Pellen[1] was born in Adelaide, South Australia,[2][3] in 1985 or 1986.[4]

Pellen's love for video games began when his father helped him find the wing boots item in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987).[5][6] He became 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.[7] He notes that one of his earliest forays into actually creating games 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".[8] Pellen earned diplomas of Digital Media and of Website Development from TAFE SA in 2013.[7][9][10]

Career

[edit]

2008-2014: Early jobs, flash games, and web design

[edit]

Pellen worked for the company Optus from 2008 to 2011, in multiple roles.[9][10] From 2012 to 2014, he was a freelance web designer, creating websites for clients such as the Lake Albert Caravan Park, with his website being named "Wilco Design".[9][11][12][13][14] He also worked for a company as a web designer, with his friend Ari Gibson later describing him as the "lynchpin [of] the entire operation" during his time there.[12] As a hobby, he created small indie games.[8] His first released game was Return to Booty Grotto (2012), an action game where players control a fish.[10][15] Made in Adobe Flash,[10] It was the only completed game he released prior to co-founding Team Cherry.[8][10] Lulanda, a Stencyl-made 2D platformer with two demos released, and the Game & Watch-inspired Wilco LCD Classics were also in development, but went unreleased.[10][11][16] According to Pellen, by the time he co-formed Team Cherry, he had been working "part-time" for "a while".[12]

2013-present: Team Cherry and professional game design

[edit]

In 2013, Pellen was contacted by his longtime friend Ari Gibson, who, after seeing his work on small platformers, suggested that they enter the 27th Ludum Dare. Its theme was 10 seconds, leading them to develop Hungry Knight under the team name "Team Cherry". It was badly received by the public.[14][17] Later in 2013, they released the small game Tomb Cat.[10][18] In 2014, a game jam with the theme of "Beneath the Surface" began, with Pellen and Gibson planning to use some ideas from Hungry Knight, alongside new ones, for a game developed for the jam; they missed the deadline.[17][19] Despite this, they were invested in the idea, resulting in the development of a full game, Hollow Knight, starting. They legally founded Team Cherry that year, and started a Kickstarter project for Hollow Knight; it was a success. The game was released in February 2017 to critical acclaim. Pellen worked on the game's programming and writing, and also co-directed its development.[17][20]

Prior to the release of Hollow Knight, Pellen and Gibson began early work on a piece of downloadable content starring Hornet as the protagonist, which eventually evolved into a sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong.[21][22] The game's development took over seven years, though Pellen described the process as enjoyable.[23] Silksong released in September 2025, also to critical acclaim.[24] Both titles' large success has given Pellen substantial wealth and an "inestimable peace of mind", with Hollow Knight and Silksong having sold roughly 15 and 7 million copies by late 2025 respectively.[23][25]

In a 2020 interview with Edge, it was confirmed that Pellen and Gibson were in the very early stages of developing a non-Hollow Knight game, one then only existing through ideas shared in a Google Doc. Pellen described the game as "something we get to explore".[21] In a 2025 Bloomberg interview, it was implied that his and Gibson's next game would not be a Hollow Knight one.[20]

Philanthropy

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In 2021, Pellen co-founded The Trustee for Team Cherry Foundation alongside Gibson and Edward Bernard; they serve as directors, and the foundation consistently reports A$1,000,000 in "donations and bequests" annually, alongside occasionally investment revenue. The foundation is self-described as "providing funds to underprivileged and vulnerable South Australians through other charities".[26]

Personal life

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Pellen is married,[27][28] and has two children, with a third on the way as of August 2025.[23] His future-wife supported him financially during development of Hollow Knight.[12] 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.[29][30][31] He met Gibson through mutuals in the early 2000s.[14][17]

Pellen owns a Twitter account, "little bomey", that he uses to shitpost.[32][33] 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.[34][32][35][36][37]

Ludography

[edit]
Year Title
2012 Return to Booty Grotto
2013 Tomb Cat
Hungry Knight
2017 Hollow Knight
2025 Hollow Knight: Silksong
TBA Untitled non-Hollow Knight game

Cancelled games

Title
Lulanda
Wilco LCD Classics

Notes

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  1. ↑ A third expected as of August 2025

References

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  1. ↑ "DEPEMI PTY" (PDF). ACNC. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  2. ↑ Thorsland, Dan (28 March 2019). "How Adelaide developers are taking on the gaming world". Adelaide Review. Archived from the original on 29 April 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  3. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (1 May 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong will be playable in September 2025 — at an Australian museum". IGN. Archived from the original on 1 May 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  4. ↑ Castello, Renato (25 March 2018). "BAFTA nomination for Adelaide video game studio Team Cherry's Hollow Knight". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 15 June 2026. Mr Pellen, 32, said he was not expecting the nomination but said the team would not be heading to London for the awards' ceremony on April 12.
  5. ↑ Brosofsky, Ben (12 May 2025). "Hollow Knight Creators Name This Nintendo Black Sheep As The Game That Brought Them Together". Screen Rant. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  6. ↑ "About". Team Cherry. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Pixels Rising Interview with Team Cherry — creators of Hollow Knight". Radio Adelaide. April 2016. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 Yeo 2021, p. 117.
  9. 1 2 3 Pellen, William. "William Pellen". LinkedIn. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 BaerTaffy (22 July 2017). "Roundtable Live! - 7/21/2017 (Ep. 95 feat. Team Cherry)". YouTube. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  11. 1 2 Pellen, William. "Wilco Design Portfolio". Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Yeo 2021, p. 120.
  13. ↑ Yeo 2021, p. 126.
  14. 1 2 3 Wiltshire, Alex (1 August 2018). "Hollow Knight and the art of consistency". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  15. ↑ Torres 2025, p. 210.
  16. ↑ Torres 2025, p. 211.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Milner, David. "The Making Of Hollow Knight". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  18. ↑ Ofner, Claudia Susanne (2021). Play Me a Story: Storytelling in the Metroidvania Game Hollow Knight (PDF) (Master's thesis). Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  19. ↑ Warr, Philippa (30 September 2015). "State of the Art: The Elegiac Beauty of Hollow Knight". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  20. 1 2 Schreier, Jason (28 November 2025). "The Makers of 'Silksong' Aren't Done Just Yet". Bloomberg. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  21. 1 2 Simpkins 2021, p. 62.
  22. ↑ Sirani, Jordan (14 February 2024). "Hollow Knight: Silksong – Everything We Know About the 2D Metroidvania Sequel". IGN. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  23. 1 2 3 Schreier, Jason (21 August 2025). "Why 'Silksong' Took Seven Years to Make". Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  24. ↑ Pritchard, Marie (1 September 2025). "Hollow Knight Silksong release date". Eurogamer. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  25. ↑ Cardy, Simon (16 December 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong - Sea of Sorrow Expansion Revealed, Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Original Hollow Knight Also in Development". IGN. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  26. ↑ "The Trustee for Team Cherry Foundation". ACNC. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  27. ↑ Yeo 2021, p. 119.
  28. ↑ Hamilton, Kirk (2 September 2018). "The Makers Of Hollow Knight Are Fine With Players Missing Things". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  29. ↑ Dealessandri, Marie (31 July 2018). "When We Made… Hollow Knight". MCV/Develop. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  30. ↑ Yeo 2021, p. 122.
  31. ↑ Yeo 2021, p. 125.
  32. 1 2 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 from the original on 8 April 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  33. ↑ 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 from the original on 29 April 2025. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
  34. ↑ 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 from the original on 18 January 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  35. ↑ 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.
  36. ↑ 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 from the original on 6 April 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  37. ↑ Warren, Mark (3 April 2025). "In Hollow Knight: Silksong's case, the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct cake was somehow not a lie". VG247. Archived from the original on 10 April 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.

Bibliography

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