The reward for Most Valuable Player at the Xbox Games Showcase 2025 can only go to a single developer, and it's none other than Obsidian Entertainment.
Obsidian already gave us Avowed earlier this year (which I reviewed and loved), and we already knew The Outer Worlds 2 was heading our ways in the second half of 2025. After all, it got half of the Xbox Games Showcase to itself.
What I did not expect was to see the follow-up to one of the most underrated first-party Xbox games, and one of my favorite survival games of all time. Yeah, Grounded 2 is officially happening, and I'm a tad shellshocked.
Enough time has passed, but Grounded still feels new
For the uninitiated, Grounded is a smaller, community-driven project from Obsidian Entertainment with a simple premise: you and your friends have been shrunk down to the size of insects, and now you have to survive the dangers of a perilous backyard twisted by strange science.
I reviewed Grounded's full release at the end of 2022, so it's not like enough time hasn't passed for Obsidian to begin cooking up a sequel, but Grounded also spent nearly two years enjoying regular post-launch updates before finally landing on PlayStation and Switch alongside some colossal content additions.
It has been just over a year since Grounded's multi-platform debut, and now we know that Grounded 2 isn't just happening, it's already around the corner. Grounded 2 is heading to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC and Steam, and Xbox Game Pass on Jul. 29, 2025 in Xbox Game Preview and Steam Early Access.
Yes, Grounded 2 will once again grow with feedback from its players, but this time Obsidian Entertainment is taking everything it learned from the first game to make the sequel better in every conceivable way.
We'll still be smol, but Grounded 2 will be bigger
Grounded 2 takes place two years after the events of the first game and features the same playable cast, but this time is set in a vast community park far larger and more hazardous than the backyard of the first game.
With lessons learned from the original Grounded, a mature approach to early access, and assistance from the legendary team at Eidos-Montréal, Grounded 2 is going to be significantly more ambitious than its predecessor.
The map is larger, the biomes are more varied and numerous, the combat is far more advanced and dynamic, the ecosystem is even more diverse and reactive, and the stakes are higher than ever. We're getting brand-new creatures like terrifying scorpions, the ability to tame various creatures to use as mounts and transport, and so much more.
And that's all just the beginning. Obsidian is committing to releasing more substantial, beefier content updates on a regular basis, with a public roadmap from day one to inform players of what's coming next.
Everything I've seen of Grounded 2 and how Obsidian is approaching its development makes me extremely optimistic this game will easily be one of the best of the year when it reaches its 1.0 release.
Which makes it all the more surprising how much Grounded 2 will cost.
Better than ever, but not more expensive
The era of $80 standard Xbox games has officially arrived, with large AAA games taking more time and resources than ever before to get across the finish line.
Shockingly, one of the first Xbox Game Studios titles to carry that lofty price tag is another Obsidian Entertainment project. Yes, The Outer Worlds 2 will start at $80, and opinions on this development are expectantly divided.
Despite also being an Obsidian game, though, Grounded 2 won't even approach that exorbitant cost of entry. In fact, Grounded 2 will cost the same as its predecessor, which was already an incredible value considering the level of quality and amount of content.
When it arrives in Game Preview, Grounded 2 will only cost $29.99, a staggering $50 less than The Outer Worlds 2. Even when Grounded 2 is fully released, I expect its final pricing to be the same as the first game, or a $10 increase to $40.
Of course, Grounded 2 will also be a day one, permanent addition to Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Gaming, making it even more accessible for players. When gaming is getting more expensive in general, from games to hardware, it's refreshing to see a major release take a more humble approach to pricing.
Grounded 2 officially arrives in early access on Jul. 29, 2025, and I personally can't wait to see how this ambitious sequel develops over time. Are you excited for Grounded 2?
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