Whereas on the bottom at Summer time Recreation Fest 2025, I obtained to play a bit of little bit of Grounded 2 after which had a fast chat afterwards with sport director Chris Parker. Within the transient time I had with the sport, which is a sequel that continues the survival sport story of youngsters shrunk all the way down to itty-bitty dimension, I obtained to combat off some creepy little multi-legged mites with a spear I’d common from twigs, pebbles, and wire. And as I fought off these bugs, regardless that they weren’t fairly spiders, I considered how they might nonetheless set off anyone’s arachnophobia (fortunately, not a difficulty for yours actually).
I’ve excellent news for these of you who hate eight-legged freaks: Grounded 2 can even have an arachnophobia mode.
“I feel the Grounded crew — the Grounded 1 crew — did a very good job in tackling this drawback,” Parker stated. “I imply, regardless that you’re largely combating what appears to be like like balloon animals” — that’s how the spiders find yourself wanting with the arachnophobia mode turned on — “that basis made it simple for the Grounded 2 crew to construct on that.
“However we definitely have extra challenges,” he stated, referring to the brand new rideable bugs in Grounded 2 (the primary sport didn’t have mounts). There’s an enormous pink ant that you would be able to trip, which I obtained to attempt for myself within the demo, however what I didn’t know was what Parker informed me subsequent: There’s additionally going to be a rideable spider within the full sport.
“And so we’ve got to respect arachnophobia mode for that as nicely, which has been a bit of bit extra difficult,” he went on. “We now have to calculate ft, and issues like that, so you may actually perceive what’s occurring, and easy methods to run that factor around the globe, and the way the world goes to work together again with it. It’s difficult, but it surely’s in all probability not as difficult as you suppose. We actually simply go onto the skeleton and put cute-looking spheres the place claws and eyeballs and abdomens was once. And so long as we take it far sufficient away from that eight-legged insect, that appears to work for folks. So yeah, it’s not all that loopy.”
After all, there are additionally gamers who’re only a little bit afraid of spiders however who don’t essentially wish to flip off the choice to see them fully. Creating the appropriate steadiness between scary and enjoyable, notably in a sport that’s meant to be family-friendly, has additionally been an entertaining problem for the crew. In Grounded 2, the characters have aged up a bit of bit, as a while has handed because the first Grounded, and in addition, the younger gamers who tried the primary sport have grown up a bit of bit, too. So, I needed to ask: How scary is just too scary?
“There are some wholesome debates about this, truly,” stated Parker. “So I feel normally, we attempt to simply push that as exhausting as we will, and in some unspecified time in the future we go, ‘Oh, I feel we pushed this too far.’ And we do stumble upon sure belongings that we’ve created the place we’re like, ‘Effectively… I don’t actually know. Let’s take that out.’ Or, ‘Let’s put it in there, and see what consumer analysis has to say about it.’ Now that we’re lastly in a position to discuss in regards to the sport and we’re going into early entry, we will discuss to the neighborhood about it. However these are the form of conversations that we wish to have with the neighborhood on the market, see what they need to say about it too.”
To be particular, Grounded 2 will probably be obtainable in early entry on July 29 for Home windows PC and Xbox Sequence X, in addition to on Recreation Cross. And also you heard them — if it’s too scary, Obsidian Leisure needs you to say so.
