William Pellen

William Pellen was born in Adelaide, South Australia.^[1][2]

Pellen became interested in creating video games as a child through the use of 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".^[3] He earned Diplomas of Digital Media and of Website Development from TAFE SA.^[4]

Pellen worked for the company Optus from 2008 to 2011, in multiple roles.^[4] He was also formerly a freelance web designer, creating websites for clients such as the Lake Albert Caravan Park, with his website being named "Wilco Design".^[5][6][7] He also worked for a company as a web designer—likely Inprint Design Adelaide^[4]—with his friend Ari Gibson describing him as the "lynchpin [of] the entire operation" during his time there.^[6] As a hobby, he was an indie game developer, creating small flash games.^[3] By the time he co-formed Team Cherry, he had been working "part-time" for a while.^[6]

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.^[8]

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.^[9] The game's development took over seven years, though Pellen described the process as enjoyable.^[10] Hollow Knight: Silksong released on 4 September 2025, also to critical acclaim.^[11]

Pellen is married,^[12][13] and has two children, with a third on the way as of August 2025.^[10] His future-wife supported him financially during development of Hollow Knight.^[6] 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.^[14][15][16]

Pellen owns a Twitter account, "little bomey", that he uses to shitpost.^[17][18] 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.^{[19][17][20][21][22]}

Cancelled games