Can you trust Hollow Knight's Steam reviews? Adjusted rating 96.7%
Genuinely great 400 positive and 400 negative reviews analyzed · data as of 2026-10-12
Summary
Hollow Knight holds an official Steam rating of 96.9%. After weighting 400 positive and 400 negative reviews by trust, the adjusted rating is 96.7% (95% range 96.5–96.8%), essentially the same as the official figure. Verdict: "Genuinely great" (the adjusted rating is 70% or higher and the positive reviews carry high average trust).
Japanese-language reviews alone show 86.1% (1,165 reviews, 95% range 84.0–88.0%), 10.8 points below the overall rating. Players writing in Japanese are noticeably less positive. In the last 180 days, Japanese-language reviews show 81.4%.
Positive reviews average 0.73 in trust and negative ones 0.79; the difference shifts the rating by less than one point. The most common discount factor is very short reviews (42% overall).
The monthly history (117 months) has no month where volume and negative share jumped together. The rating does not appear to be driven by a single episode.
The last 180 days show 96.0% (last 30 days: 95.3%), close to the all-time figure.
The adjusted rating estimates trust from how reviews are written; it does not judge any individual review as fake. Data as of 2026-10-12.
Positive vs negative breakdown
Share of sampled reviews that meet each condition that lowers trust. When a condition is more common on the positive side, the adjusted rating falls below the official one.
| Condition | Positive reviews | Negative reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Under 2 hours played at review | 2% | 7% |
| Very short text | 42% | 31% |
| Key activated outside Steam | 12% | 12% |
| Received for free | 0% | 1% |
| Owns very few games | 31% | 15% |
| Over 100 reviews written | 1% | 1% |
| Average trust (1.0 = full) | 0.73 | 0.79 |
The median total playtime of the sampled reviewers is 31.5 hours.
Rating history
Monthly positive and negative review counts since release, as published by Steam.
Recent sentiment
| Period | Positive | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Last 30 days | 95.3% | 4,535 |
| Last 180 days | 96.0% | 31,360 |
| All time | 96.9% | 564,841 |
| Japanese, last 180 days | 81.4% | 70 |
About this verdict
- Every figure is computed from review data that Steam makes public. No AI estimation is used.
- Review text is never stored or republished. Read the actual reviews on Steam.
- Read the methodology and its limits
- If you disagree with this verdict, please reach us via the contact on the About page. About