Shovel Knight Dev's Make-or-Break Game Goes Gold

Six years of development, a missed Halloween 2025 launch, and a studio that openly admitted this project would decide its future. On April 24, Yacht Club Games announced on X that Mina the Hollower has officially gone gold. The game is complete, the submission process with first-party partners has begun, and a release date will follow as soon as the studio has one locked down.

What makes this announcement land differently than a typical "gone gold" post is context Yacht Club itself provided. Back in February, the studio described Mina as its most ambitious title ever, claiming it contains more total screens than the entirety of Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, along with over 25 bosses and mini-bosses, 60 trinkets, a full level-up system, and New Game Plus. And late last year, the team went further, publicly calling Mina a "make-or-break" situation for the company. That kind of honesty from an indie studio is rare, and I respect it, but it also means the pressure on this launch is enormous.

Originally conceived as a side project by Alec Faulkner and funded through a 2022 Kickstarter, Mina the Hollower grew into something far bigger than anyone at Yacht Club likely planned. The Game Boy Color-inspired action adventure was initially targeting a spring 2026 window after slipping from its October 2025 date. With gold status confirmed and submissions underway, a May or early summer release seems likely, though the studio hasn't committed to anything yet. Mina is confirmed for PC, PlayStation 5, and both Switch consoles, with the Switch 2 version supporting 120fps. I'm pulling for Yacht Club here; they built one of the best indie games of the last decade with Shovel Knight, and a studio willing to stake everything on a creative follow-up deserves to land on its feet.