Every fact on this page applies to update 1.5.12620, the one version tested. Other versions may behave differently.
No emulator needed: Hollow Knight runs natively on the Apple chip. How nxnative compares with emulators
Running through nxnative
How Hollow Knight runs
Hollow Knight plays on the Mac at 60 fps, as on the Switch. No iPhone or iPad app has been built yet.
How it runs
On the Mac, testing went through the title, a new game, the prologue text and the opening cinematic, then King's Pass: walking, jumping, nail attacks, breaking its walls, killing crawlids, collecting geo, taking damage, dying, meeting your shade and respawning. A save made there loaded again after a restart.
On the title screen frames held steady at 60 fps. The opening cinematic plays at 30 fps because the game asks for that. In King's Pass, memory use stayed at about 1.5 GB, including after a death and a reloaded save; later areas have not been measured.
Bring update 1.5.12620
Tested with update 1.5.12620. Put it in the same folder as the base game before you Pack. The base game without the update has not been tried.
Controls
The Packed app starts in the 2D touch layout. B jumps, Y attacks and A confirms in menus.
Good to know
- From a fresh save the title screen takes about 25 seconds to appear.
- The opening cinematic runs about two minutes; skipping it has not been tried.
- Sound has only been checked in the logs, and input only through scripted presses, not a controller or keyboard.
- Dirtmouth and everything past King's Pass have not been tested yet.
Known issues
- No iPhone or iPad app has been built or tested yet.
- Sound has not been listened to yet; only the logs show it working.
- Dirtmouth and everything past King's Pass are untested.
Packing command
Run this in your nxnative folder on the Build Mac. Replace the game folder and the keys path with your own. Add --platform mac-app to get a Mac app instead of an iPhone and iPad app.
python3 scripts/build_ipa_from_nsp.py ~/Games/hollow-knight -k ~/keys/prod.keysFAQ
Does Hollow Knight work with nxnative?
Yes. Hollow Knight is tested with nxnative on update 1.5.12620.
Which iPhone, iPad or Mac do I need to play Hollow Knight?
An iPhone 15 Pro or newer (A17 Pro chip or later) or an iPad with an M1 chip or later, on iOS or iPadOS 26 or later, or a Mac with Apple silicon. iPads with the A17 Pro chip (iPad mini) have the iPhone 15 Pro's chip but are untested by nxnative. Packing needs a Mac with macOS 26.6 or later and Xcode 27.2.
Is Hollow Knight included?
No. Neither this site nor nxnative includes any game. You Pack Hollow Knight from your own copy of the game, with keys dumped from your own Switch.
Does online play work in Hollow Knight?
Online play in Hollow Knight is not confirmed to work, so do not count on it.
