Team Cherry Are Healthy Workaholics, Says Silksong Voice Actor—All Grind, No Crunch
Shakra voice actor hails the team’s grind: "I'd be lying if I said that they're not very hard workers."
In a rare bit of good news about how games are actually made, one of Silksong's key voice actors says Team Cherry works hard without burning people out. Honestly, that should not be remarkable in 2025, but here we are.
Who said what
Lauren Koopowitz — the actor behind the new mapmaker Shakra and more than 20 other characters in Hollow Knight: Silksong — sat down with Dan Allen Gaming and talked about the studio's work culture. The short version: committed team, sane expectations.
"Healthy workaholics."
That was her punchline, with a laugh. And she meant it as a compliment.
- She was asked straight up if the team is doing 12-hour days to make deadlines. Her answer: it depends where the game is in its cycle and what deadlines are on the board — not a constant grind.
- She called the trio behind Team Cherry dedicated and mindful, the kind of bosses who actually remember people have lives and want their teams to have a decent quality of life.
- Yes, they worked a lot, but it never felt like a pressure cooker. No frantic rushing, no intensity for intensity's sake. Her read: kind, chill, balanced.
- As a VO, she said they were receptive. She could pitch takes — as in, maybe a character is feeling X — and they would let her try it that way.
The vibe behind the mic
Koopowitz described the Team Cherry folks as genuinely lovely to collaborate with. The sessions were conversational, and her input actually mattered — which is not always how these gigs go. It sounds like an outfit that works long when needed, but not by default, and without turning the room into a stress factory.
About that difficulty...
If you're bracing for pain, that tracks — but apparently earlier builds were even tougher. A Team Cherry tester who also voices the character Trobbio said their feedback led to toning things down where it counted.
"It was almost entirely nerfs to bosses that I got put in."
So the reputation for brutality is earned, but it is a post-nerf brutality. Make of that what you will.
Bottom line: it is nice when one of the most-watched games on the horizon is being made by people who seem decent, measured, and allergic to crunch. More of that, please.