Latest news with #Grounded2
Engadget
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Obsidian Entertainment has big ambitions for Grounded 2's small world
Obsidian Entertainment has been an incredibly versatile game developer over the years, even venturing outside its RPG comfort zone with the original Grounded . As a survival adventure game where you're shrunken down and explore the hidden, vast world of a backyard, it became a well-loved hit, and it evolved even further throughout its early access period. But now, the developers have big plans for Grounded 2 , which has new features and a larger scope that was too big for the original to contain. Shortly after the reveal during the recent Xbox Games Showcase alongside Summer Game Fest 2025, I got to play the opening of the sequel, which sees the familiar crew of teenage scavengers, now a little older and wiser, shrunken down once again to survive a new small world hidden in the town's park. Even as a new iteration of a familiar premise, which is essentially the survival gameplay of Rust by way of the whimsical Honey, I Shrunk the Kids , Grounded 2 is already showing some promise as the bigger and better sequel. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Grounded 2 , which will also launch in early access, already feels like a bigger game, even from the confines of the tutorial zone. For starters, there's a larger focus on building up the experience of the four teenage scavengers and how they fit into the larger story. It's not quite Yellowjackets when it comes to teen drama, but the crew exploring the small world of the park have colorful language and quips at their disposal. There's a generally stronger sense of personality in Grounded 2 , which is bolstered by some more character-driven writing and opportunities to take in the lore of the company responsible for the experiments in town. The experience of playing Grounded 2 , much like the original and other survival games, is all about gathering resources from the land and acquiring knowledge to stay alive. Along with collecting materials to build weapons, armor and structures, you'll also have to keep your characters fed and hydrated. You'll also need to defend yourself against the various critters roaming about, such as the ants and the spiders. Also returning is the arachnophobia accessibility option to make them appear less disturbing for players. Thankfully, you can now use a dodge to avoid attacks – a first for the series – and combat is generally more responsive and fair. Grounded 2 feels like a more well-rounded and refined take on the original, which is a solid game in its own right. One great addition that I got to play with was the new ant mount, or buggy, as the devs call it. You'll be able to ride on top of a friendly ant that can attack enemies, move faster throughout the world, and even collect material far more quickly than the human scavengers. Shortly after my hands-on experience, I sat in on a roundtable discussion with game director Chris Parker and producer Miles Winzeler from Obsidian Entertainment, who explained how early access feedback from players helped bring the game to its current state. In order to fully implement their vision for Grounded, though, they would need a new game. "Almost everything in Grounded 2 comes from feedback from the community that we had gathered from the first game," Parker said. "We had to look at what was important to work on with the sequel. People always want more stuff to do. They wanted to have the buggies, which was a huge one and our number one most requested feature from out the gate on Grounded 1 . We then had to work on new creatures, armor and weapons, among other things. How can we further develop our progression systems? So those were all the things that we took on from the beginning for Grounded 2 ." Grounded 2 felt like a more fully realized game, which leveraged years of work on the original. Along with a more developed story campaign focusing on helping the kids survive the portion of Brookhollow Park they have to explore – which is more than three times the size of the original's map – The game will also launch with creative mode, which was a popular feature that let players focus on exploring and building up structures at their leisure. "We're always trying to challenge scale and how we can create a sense of awe and mystery by having something that's supposed to be normal but is now this gigantic thing," Parker said. "That's always the fun when making this game." I really took to the added scope of Grounded 2 . Not just as a shrunken person trapped on the grounds of a park but also for the new features and ideas at work for the sequel. With the game coming out in July for early access, Grounded 2 has already got me invested in making a return visit to this small world with big ambitions. Grounded 2 will release in early access on July 29 for Xbox Series X|S and PC, and will be available for Game Pass subscribers.
Forbes
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Obsidian Reiterates $80 ‘Outer Worlds 2' Price Is On Xbox, Not Them
The Outer Worlds 2 Obsidian Obsidian is having a big year of releases between this spring's Avowed and this summer's The Outer Worlds 2, in addition to the reveal of Grounded 2 on top of that. But while Obsidian works hard on all these games, the one thing they do not do is set the price, and that's an issue that's emerged in the wake of the reveal that The Outer Worlds 2 would be Xbox's first $80 game. Microsoft promised that $80 games were coming this year after Nintendo broke the dam with Mario Kart World. Sony does not seem to have hopped on board yet, Ghost of Yotei will be $70 this fall, but Microsoft is eager to get started. The Outer Worlds 2's director, Brandon Adler, had this to say about the pricing when asked about it at SGF: If this were say, Perfect Dark or something along those lines, I don't think we'd be having this same conversation. Rather, it's that this is an Obsidian game releasing at this price point. Not that these games are bad, but just that they're not exactly sprawling a lot of the time compared to their AAA compatriots. The Outer Worlds was released at the then-standard price of $60 back in 2019, and performed well enough to warrant this sequel. This year, Avowed cost $70, and sales of that were…nebulous. Microsoft did not exactly brag about that game's performance very much, be it on Game Pass or the sales front. But while being at the 'standard' price for AAA games has been the norm, this is a bit different as Microsoft has chosen this as a sacrificial lamb for the $80 price point. Well, perhaps that's too extreme. A crash-test dummy? Hm. Outer Worlds Obsidian The situation is more complicated here because of Xbox Game Pass. Subscribers don't care whether the price is $40, $60 or $80 because it will be included day one there regardless. Rather, the price exists for those outside the system, and is Microsoft wants to push more subs, it now can say simply 'three games a year cost exactly the same as a year of Game Pass Ultimate ($240)' when for the lower prices that wasn't the case. Of course, Game Pass prices are no doubt going to go up again at some point, too. Game pricing can be frustrating for developers as like Obsidian says, it's simply not up to them when they're not an independent entity. For a game like say, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, that team can set the price at $50 if they want to (even if that was easily worth $70 or $80 for the experience). Or it also comes up if a game should be free-to-play or premium at baseline. Not going to be up to the developer. Will The Outer Worlds 2 perform well at the $80 price point? When it comes to Xbox, that's a black box at this point. At best, Xbox will brag about 'engagement,' but we won't know sales numbers, plus sales are always low because of Game Pass anyway. But this does seem like a strange game to start this trend with, and I'm not sure how amused the developer is about it. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Grounded 2 Surprisingly Revealed at Xbox Games Showcase 2025
At SGF 2025, Xbox unleashed their Xbox Games Showcase chock full of trailers and the next game from Obsidian, Grounded 2 was revealed. The Xbox Games Showcase 2025 laid many surprises at Xbox fans' feet, including the official reveal of the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally. Xbox still had a lot more in store for players, and although Obsidian Entertainment had the The Outer Worlds 2 Direct that follows the Xbox Games Showcase, they revealed another sequel during the Xbox Games Showcase. Grounded 2 is coming, and the first reveal trailer can be seen below. CGMagazine's review of the original Grounded called it 'a unique title with a simple premise, but a lot of meat on its bones' back when it launched in 2022. Instead of carving a live-service feel from the original Grounded from 2022 similar to how Xbox Studios handled RARE's Sea of Thieves, Xbox gave Obsidian Entertainment the green light to develop a full-fledged sequel. The original Grounded title was released two years after it entered early access for PlayStation, and although the trailer was brief, it made no mention of coming to the PlayStation platform. Grounded 2 follows the premise of the original game, but this time, the adventurous party of select-a-character kids are navigating a local park, riding ants, running along picnic tables and fallen popsicles, and battling a bevy of spiders and scorpions instead of just exploring a massive backyard. Obsidian Entertainment has been on a tear lately with their releases, The Outer Worlds (and a sequel), Grounded, and the Pillars of Eternity universe spin-off with Avowed. Xbox continues to greenlight many of the studio's upcoming projects. Interestingly enough, Grounded 2 is not only in development, but it's launching into Xbox Game Preview and Steam Early Access on July 29, 2025. Fans looking for more SGF 2025 coverage, can head to CGMagazine for all of it! Be sure to check out all of the other announcements from the Xbox Games Showcase
Digital Trends
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
Grounded 2 exists for one reason: fans wanted to ride the bugs
There were a lot of surprises at this year's Xbox Games Showcase, but few turned my head the way Grounded 2 did. I wasn't just shocked because it is Obsidian Entertainment's third game releasing in 2025 (behind Avowed and ahead of The Outer Worlds 2). I was more so surprised that the team made it at all. The first Grounded only hit early access in 2020 and enjoyed regular updates on its path to 1.0. It very much felt early for a full sequel to arrive. But it turns out that there's one very simple answer for why the team went full steam ahead: Its fans begged to ride the bugs. Following the Xbox Games Showcase this past weekend, I played 30 minutes of Grounded 2 and spoke to Executive Producer Marcus Morgan about its origin. While the sequel doesn't change too much about the original based on my early play time, it does expand the world of Grounded by a significant degree. Those changes simply couldn't have fit into another update. Recommended Videos My demo begins with a quick tutorial sequence where I'm introduced to the new story, the 90s setting, and the basic crafting loop. I have once again been shrunk to the size of an insect and need to fight my way through a backyard by crafting handy items from the nature around me. I quickly learn how to gather things like sap and grass blades, analyze them at a research station, and build the recipes I unlock from a workbench. I'm left to survive in the wild, avoiding giant insects until I can make weapons powerful enough to take them down. Simple enough. What I do learn after playing my demo is that the world I'm exploring, Brookhollow Park, is much bigger this time. The starting area that will be available in the early access release is the size of Grounded's complete map. When Grounded 2 finishes its life cycle, Moragn says that its map will be three times larger. 30 minutes wasn't enough to explore it all, but I did wander into some dangerous tunnels and scale an enormous picnic blanket draped over a bench, a natural platforming challenge that eventually required me to brave the cold interior of an iced beverage container. I don't find anything truly different about that loop until I load up a save file that's a little further along. Marcus Morgan directs me over to an ant hill. A friendly ant pops out and I jump on its back. It's my personal mount, and I can use it to ride around the world while still harvesting materials and attacking other bugs. I only rode an ant, but critters like spiders will be rideable too. It's a nice addition, but I initially wonder why it just wasn't added to Grounded post-launch instead. Morgan tells me why that addition demanded a sequel that was built for it. 'It's the number one requested feature we got from Grounded of what people wanted,' Morgan tells Digital Trends. 'It also is the baseline that generated why we expanded to make a new map, expanded to make a new game, expanded to make a new world. We didn't want buggies just to be something that you rode around on. We wanted them, one, fully integrated into the final experience. That's why you can craft with an ant buggie, you can fight, you can build with them. We actually prototyped out mounts in Grounded pretty early on, but the world wasn't designed to fit that in. Traversal changes, how you make POIs, how you do interior and exterior level design. All that stuff changes when you do it, and so it really is the catalyst for what created a lot of moving to Brookhollow Park.' After 30 minutes, I'm firmly back in the grounded loop. I'm hacking down blades of grass, fighting off bugs with my pebble spear, and living in an intricate base that can protect me from the giant bugs roaming around. It's all very familiar, but it's undoubtedly charming to be back in that world. Grounded 2 looks especially nice as an Xbox Series X/S and PC exclusive, as I feel like the environments benefit from warmer lighting pouring through the grass. Near the end of my chat with Morgan, I ask why the team wanted to return to Grounded so quickly after the first game rather than creating something new. His eyes light up. 'Because it's so frickin' fun making content in Grounded,' Morgan says with a big smile 'It's one of the few games where you walk outside and you have an inspiration of 12 ideas of what you can make. And there was so much we hadn't touched on. Sometimes when you're making a sequel, you're kind of stuck because you're like 'what else can I add here that makes this interesting?' With this one it's like, there's a million other bugs I want to do. I want to do bigger creatures at some point and time and figure out a way to make that work. There's wild new biomes that we can come with. We weren't out of ideas of what we could do more with.' Who can argue with enthusiasm? Grounded 2 launches into early access on July 29 for Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Metro
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Persona 4 remake, Keeper, High On Life 2 and the best of Xbox Games Showcase
Persona 4 Revival is real! (YouTube) Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase has revealed a host of new multiformat games, including Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, Super Meat Boy 3D, and Grounded 2. The June Xbox Games Showcase has been on a roll since its inception, repeatedly showing up Sony's attempts to fill the E3 gap. Even though this year is a relatively quiet one for Xbox, it was still generally more interesting than the PlayStation State of Play last week. It's still unclear if there'll be a Nintendo Direct this month, given the Switch 2 has only just launched, but there was no mention of the new console at Microsoft's event, especially when it came to Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7. Arguably the biggest reveal of the show (despite the fact it had been leaked previously) was the two new ROG Xbox Ally portable devices, but there was also plenty of other traditional news, as you can see from this bountiful selection of trailers below. The format of the Xbox Games Showcase has always been the same, with an hour or so of various different first and third party titles, followed by a 30 minute showcase of a specific game. Previously that's been Starfield and Black Ops 6, but this year it was The Outer Worlds 2, followed by a bonus 30 minutes on the newly revealed Grounded 2 – also by Obsididan Entertainment. Oh, and before you ask, Hollow Knight: Silksong was not featured, although Xbox exec Sarah Bond did mention in passing that it was still coming out this year. Although we'll believe that when we see it. Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. High On Life 2 Somewhat surprisingly, given what happened to creator Justin Roiland, there is going to be a sequel to comedy first person shooter High On Life. Roiland quit developer Squanch Games in 2023 (apart from anything he was the voice of the main character) but the sequel will carry on regardless, with the pre-rendered reveal trailer featuring a range of new weapons but surprisingly few jokes. It's actually out this winter too, for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy Leaked a few hours before the show itself, a third entry in the Plague Tale series is now confirmed for sometime next year, on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Although the trailer makes it unclear when the game is set exactly, it apparently tells the origin story of Sophia. Although there's obviously a lot of references to the myth of Theseus and the minotaur from Ancient Greece, as well as what looks like a Roman amphitheatre. Strangely, there's no rats at all, nor any obvious sign that part of the game will be set in the modern day, which was hinted at by the ending of the previous entry. Super Meat Boy 3D One of a few genuine surprises during the showcase, there hasn't been a new Super Meat Boy game since the disastrous Super Meat Boy Forever in 2021. Developer Team Meat are back though, with a new game that is 3D in the sense of Super Mario 3D World rather than Super Mario Odyssey. It seems to have captured the look and feel of the originals perfectly, but as the previous title showed getting the right balance between difficult and head-gnawingly frustrating is not easy. It'll be out on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC next year. Ninja Gaiden 4 Microsoft has long seen Ninja Gaiden as one of the few Japanese-made franchises that is inextricably linked to Xbox, despite its many multiformat releases, and they're probably right. Although the game had been revealed earlier in the year the big news here was that it's out – on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC – on October 21 (the same day as Jurassic World Evolution 3, which also featured in the showcase, just in case you wanted further proof of how terrible publishers are at scheduling). Indiana Jones And The Order Of The Giants The only obvious hook for DLC in Indiana Jones And The Great Circle was a sub-villain that didn't get killed. There's no obvious sign that they're involved in this first expansion, so maybe they're being saved for the next. As it is, this is set in Rome (so expect some nods to The Last Crusade) and involves exploring the origins of the giants from the main game, possibly incorporating the secret ending from the original. Although the fact that actor Tony Todd has sadly died since then, may have changed MachineGames' plans. The DLC will be out on September 4 for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Beast Of Reincarnation The idea of Pokémon developer Game Freak making multiformat games is not a new thing, although usually they tend to have a similarly family friendly appeal. This looks to be a more serious affair – some manner of action adventure that almost has a Soulslike feel to it. It also features robots, samurai, and a pet wolf so we're immediately interested. But if Game Freak can put out graphics like this for a side project they're going to have even less excuse if the next Pokémon game is the usual broken mess of low-tech visuals. Beast Of Reincarnation is out next year on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Clockwork Revolution One of the longest gameplay trailers of the evening was this new action role-player from Wasteland developer inXile Entertainment. Its tone is awkwardly similar to The Outer Worlds but with a neat set of time-altering powers and lots of steampunk style gadgets and world design. It's being co-developed by new studio Shapeshifter Games, who are made up of a lot of Saints Row veterans. It's also one of the few games in the showcase that is not coming to PlayStation 5, likely because the studios are quite small and they started work on the game before Microsoft began their current multiformat policy. Grounded 2 Another genuine surprise was a sequel to Obsidian's pint-sized survival game, which will also be making heavy use of early access to evolve its design. It's the same basic idea as before – of trying to survive as one of a group of tweens shrunk to smaller than ant size – but this time in a local park instead of a back garden, plus now you can use various creepy crawlies as mounts. The original Grounded was one of the first of Microsoft's games to go multiformat (including on Switch), but the sequel will only be on Xbox Series X/S and PC, at least when it launches on Xbox Game Preview on July 29. Cronos: The New Dawn Developer Bloober Team went from zero to hero with the remake of Silent Hill 2, so if they can pull it out the bag a second time, for this new original IP, they will have established themselves as one of the most important horror game developers of the moment. Cronos seems to have something of a Dead Space vibe going on, as well as perhaps influences from Returnal, at least in terms of the story. It's due out this autumn on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Aphelion Don't Nod's mountain climbing adventure Jusant is an underappreciated gem, so if this sci-fi adventure ends up being a spiritual successor we will be more than happy. That's certainly what it looks like, although with a less laidback atmosphere and what sounds like some considerably more dangerous monsters. It's coming to Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC next year. Aphelion means the point at which a planet or moon is furthest from its star, which we guess explains all the snow. There Are No Ghosts At The Grand One of the best surprises of the showcase was this bizarre new game from a previously unknown studio in Bristol, called Friday Sundae. The set-up is that you've inherited a hotel, as well as a bunch of implausible gadgets that are used to repair and prettify it and the rest of the town. However, they can also be used to bust ghosts at night, as you battle a Lovecraftian invasion. And on top of that it's a musical. It's due out next year, but only for Xbox Series X/S and PC, which implies Microsoft must have put up some of the budget. Planet Of Lana 2: Children Of The Leaf We weren't as impressed by 2023's Limbo inspired platformer Planet Of Lana as some people but there's no doubting it was a very pretty game. There's also no doubt that the sequel looks to be even prettier, especially with its new underwater sequences. Whether the gameplay and storytelling proves to be any more substantial though, remains to be seen. It'll be out on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC next year. At Fate's End As attractive as Planet Of Lana 2 might be, this new game from the makers of Spiritfarer looks even better, with some really gorgeous animation. We're not entirely sure what's going on with the playing cards but it's clearly not just a simple action game. If this ends up playing as good as it looks it's going to be amazing; it's out next year on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Gears Of War: Reloaded It's already had one remaster but this new version of the first Gears of War will also be released on PlayStation 5 (but not Switch 2 – in fact, there wasn't a single game for Nintendo's new console in the whole showcase). The release date was already announced as August 26, with confirmation of 4K resolution, 120fps support, and modernised multiplayer with cross-play and cross-progression across all formats. Persona 4 Revival It's been rumoured for ages, and it's always been pretty obvious it was real, but Atlus chose the Xbox Games Showcase as the venue to announce their remake of Persona 4. Not much was shown but it seemed a pretty major glow up in terms of graphics, although it's unclear if there'll be any substantial new gameplay or story elements. There's no indication of a release date, but it'll be released on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Invincible Vs All of a sudden, superhero themed 2D fighters are all the rage but there seems to be a gulf of difference between this, from unknown developer Quarter Up, and Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls from genre masters Arc System Works. Maybe it'll be good though; it certainly seems bloody enough to be authentic, although there's something a bit off about the visuals that doesn't really match the look of the show. It's out next year on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade and Final Fantasy 16 It was always inevitable that these two would end up on Xbox Series X/S sooner or later, but while Final Fantasy 16 is out now there's no date for Final Fantasy 7 Remake other than later this year. That practically guarantees that Rebirth, and the third game, will follow eventually. Many fans had hoped that Square Enix would announce the final chapter this month but as the Xbox Game Showcase was the last major preview event it looks like that's not going to happen. Keeper Psychonauts developer Double Fine were rumoured to be about to unveil their next game but, funnily enough, no one guessed that it would involve a sentient, preambulatory lighthouse, whose best friend is a bird. Despite the wonderfully weird visuals and fantastical designs the game is apparently set on a 'post-human' Earth and features no dialogue of any kind. We sense something of an early era Pixar vibe but it won't be long until we know for sure, as it's out on October 17, for Xbox Series X/S and PC – again, a PlayStation 5 version will probably follow later. The Outer Worlds 2 Although the 2019 original didn't seem to set the world on fire the sequel to Obsidian's satirical sci-fi role-player is looking considerably more refined. Although they've made plenty of games in their time, including this year's Avowed, we've never heard Obsidian compare one of their games quite so much to Fallout: New Vegas before. That's clearly intentional and the original certainly did have a Fallout vibe, in terms of its critique of capitalism and the hubris of humanity. It was never quite as funny as Obsidian seemed to think but it appears that aspect may also have improved in the sequel. The guns certainly have, and we really like the look of that BFG style one towards the end. The game's out on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC on October 29… a week before Ninja Gaiden 4, which is just four days after Keeper. So, very impressive showcase, typically moronic release scheduling. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: Best new mobile games on iOS and Android – June 2025 round-up Arrow MORE: Best of Summer Game Fest 2025 trailers – Mortal Shell 2, Game Of Thrones and more Arrow MORE: Resident Evil Requiem trailer reveals release date and new main character
