Grounded by Obsidian

[Dark Drakan]

An interesting looking title that I came across a couple of months ago that is being developed by a really small team inside Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. Clearly inspired by such things as Honey I Shrunk the Kids, A Bugs Life, Antz and was a passion project that some of the staff wanted to explore.

Its a single player and up to 4 player co-op survival title and so far the story has only been teased (trailer below).

Grounded - Story Trailer

How RPG studio Obsidian ended up making a survival game

The world is a vast, beautiful and dangerous place – especially when you have been shrunk to the size of an ant. Explore, build and survive together in this first person, multiplayer, survival-adventure. Can you thrive alongside the hordes of giant insects, fighting to survive the perils of the backyard?

Due to launch into Early Access and Xbox Game Pass July 28th

Steam Store

Game Informer had an exclusive coverage segment on it over the last month which can be found here.​

 

[Dark Drakan]

Obsidian to release ‘Grounded’ demo for PC, Xbox One in June

The demo will be available from June 9 till June 14 to coincide with the Steam Game Festival. Xbox Insiders will be able to test out the game on Xbox One, while PC players will have access via Steam. Follow link above for steps on how to get involved.

Obsidian will launch Grounded into early access on July 28, through the Xbox Game Preview program and Steam Early Access. The game will be free for all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on Xbox One and PC.

Grounded will feature a standard single-player mode as well as a four-person online multiplayer, both of which will be story-driven. The game’s director Adam Brennecke noted during the Inside Xbox episode that while the storyline won’t be finished when it’s in early access, the team will be assessing player feedback to further develop the game.
​

 

[Steve]

Very interesting premise! Definitely tempted to give it a whirl on Game Pass once it lands. Fortnite fatigue is setting in for the kids and Grounded looks like something we might be able to try out together. Reckon it's something you might try, @Dark Drakan ?

 

[Dark Drakan]

Very interesting premise! Definitely tempted to give it a whirl on Game Pass once it lands. Fortnite fatigue is setting in for the kids and Grounded looks like something we might be able to try out together. Reckon it's something you might try, @Dark Drakan ?

Yeah for sure, I like the Honey I shrunk the kids vibe and an interesting premise and twist on the survival genre. Co-op play looks good and although it’s only a tiny team of 14 people (I believe) making it Obsidian have a good track record.

I also like the fact it’s coming to Game Pass AND having a demo as well as listening to fans on what to include throughout its early access into full release.

 

[ef9dante_oSsshea]

If ye need a third I would be up for playing this coop

If ye will have me lol

 

[Dark Drakan]

If ye need a third I would be up for playing this coop

If ye will have me lol

I’m assuming you have game pass on Xbox? I have it on PC myself and if cross play is available for it then more than happy.

 

[ef9dante_oSsshea]

I have it on both, I mainly play xbox but I can make it work either way if it's crossplay or not and jump on my gaming laptop

I'm assuming it will be as it's a play anywhere title and most xbox play anywhere games are crossplay

 

[Dark Drakan]

I have it on both, I mainly play xbox but I can make it work either way if it's crossplay or not and jump on my gaming laptop

I'm assuming it will be as it's a play anywhere title and most xbox play anywhere games are crossplay

Wasnt aware you played on a laptop frequently too, what else do you play on PC?

I would assume it will be play anywhere but dont know for sure.

 

[ef9dante_oSsshea]

I also play , warhammer games, wow, path of exile, arma , escape from tarkov the odd time

Smite too, divinity original sin and others including gears 5

I play on my acer predator 21x

 

[Dark Drakan]

I also play , warhammer games, wow, path of exile, arma , escape from tarkov the odd time

Smite too, divinity original sin and others including gears 5

I play on my acer predator 21x

Hopefully when I get some more time to game you can join us for a game of something. Add me on Steam, Xbox if you wish my username is the same everywhere (don’t believe I’ve seen you on my list).

 

[ef9dante_oSsshea]

I actually messaged you on xbox recently about how you were doing during the pandemic

That was me lol

 

[Dark Drakan]

I actually messaged you on xbox recently about how you were doing during the pandemic

That was me lol

Gamertag on Xbox threw me off, although I thought it was you. :laugh:

 

[ef9dante_oSsshea]

Ha ya my bad , I fancied changing my gamertag this year

 

[Dark Drakan]

Grounded Launch Trailer

 

[Dark Drakan]

Grounded tops the Steam best-sellers list and hits big on Twitch

Grounded launched into Early Access yesterday, and it’s hit the top of the Steam best-sellers list and very close to the top of the Twitch charts. Grounded hit more than 250,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch, which topped League of Legends viewer numbers. It also beat out the Destroy All Humans! remaster in sales, which also launched at the same time and took the number 1 spot.​

 

[Dark Drakan]

More than one million players have tried Grounded so far in early access

As a concept that looked like a big risk for a company who doesn't usually create games in this genre or use this business model it looks to be paying off for Obsidian Entertainment.

During the early access phase for Grounded, players are actively encouraged to provide feedback during the early development process, and content will be added based on said feedback.​

 

[ef9dante_oSsshea]

Game is actually quite fun, I'm not usually into the genre but grounded has something about it

 

[Dark Drakan]

Game is actually quite fun, I'm not usually into the genre but grounded has something about it

Its quite charming and they really managed to capture the aesthetics and the atmosphere (also jump scares with the spiders). The foundations are brilliant and it runs really well for a just launched early access title that has cross play and co-op straight out of the gates. Looking forward to seeing where they take it over the rest of the year towards full release as they could be onto something special here.

The story potential is fantastic and so many things they could include that could make this a real hit.

 

[ef9dante_oSsshea]

Considering how much sea of thieves grew and changed from launch to now, I have no doubt grounded will only increase in scope and get better with time.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Considering how much sea of thieves grew and changed from launch to now, I have no doubt grounded will only increase in scope and get better with time.

Obsidian have a good track record and development pedigree too and I recently started on Sea of Thieves too and quite excited to see where Grounded goes.

EDIT*

Apparently Obsidian have said there will be monthly updates and first update is due in just over 3 weeks (On August 27th). No word on what the update will contain yet but Game Director Adam Brennecke confirmed it yesterday on Twitter.

“With so many of you interested in our game, we can’t wait to bring you more to do in Grounded every month. As we look forward to building Grounded together, we want to let you know that this journey is just the start of the adventure and we will be making continued updates and fixes to ensure the best player experience possible. Also, starting on August 27, we will begin our monthly delivery of game updates.”​