William Pellen

William Pellen is an Australian video game designer and former web designer, best known for his work on Hollow Knight and its sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong. 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, to his mother, Zara Pellen, and his father.
He earned a diploma of Digital Media and a diploma of Website Development from TAFE SA.

Career

Pellen worked for the company Optus from 2008 to 2011, in multiple roles. He was also formerly a freelance web designer, creating websites for clients such as the Lake Albert Caravan Park, and a solo indie game developer.
In 2014, Pellen co-founded the independent video game studio Team Cherry with Ari Gibson, whom he had previously worked with on 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.
He later worked on a piece of Hollow Knight downloadable content that eventually evolved into a sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, with the same roles he had while working on Hollow Knight. The game's development took over seven years, though Pellen described the process as enjoyable. Hollow Knight: Silksong released on 4 September 2025, also to critical acclaim.

Personal life

Pellen is married to Victoria, and has two children, with a third on the way as of August 2025.

Twitter usage

Pellen owns a Twitter account, "little bomey",, that he uses to shitpost.
In January 2025, Pellen posted a cryptic tweet, changed his profile picture to a piece of cake, and revamped his entire account. A reverse image search tracked the photo to a cake recipe posted on 2 April 2024, while several factors related to the Tweet and account revamp appeared to relate to 2 April in general, leading fans to believe that the changes were an ARG hinting at there being Silksong news at the then-upcoming 2 April 2025 Nintendo Direct. Team Cherry marketing and PR manager, Matthew Griffin, later indirectly denied that the changes held any significance. However, Silksong did appear in the Nintendo Direct, where it was given a 2025 release window, which led some to believe that the changes were hints by Pellen.

List of known games

Cancelled games

Title

Lulanda

Wilco LCD Classics