One of the biggest surprises of the XBox Games Showcase 2025 was the reveal of “Grounded 2”. The original “Grounded” was an obvious love letter to the classic “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” film, featuring kids miniaturized and having to fight for their lives against giant bugs in the back yard. The concept translated well into a survival game, and proved to be one of the first big hits of the 2020’s for Xbox.

This new sequel promises to be 3 times the size of the original game – the kids now have more than a back yard to deal with – now they’re tasked with surviving a city park! The game trailer also reveals news bugs you can face (including a praying mantis and scorpion), but also new bugs you can ride (such as an ant or a spider)!

Here’s the trailer:

The reveal was unexpected as Obsidian (the developer studio of the first game) was known to be deep in production on “The Outer Worlds 2”, but this new game was revealed to be a co-production between Obsidian and Eidos Montreal, the former Square Enix studio known for it’s work on the “Dues Ex” and “Tomb Raider” games of the last decade.

Perhaps even more surprising than the announcement of the game is the reveal that it’s being released soon! Or rather, what Xbox is calling a “Game Preview” version of the game is releasing soon, on July 29th. Basically an “Open Beta” version that the studio can get feedback on. The imminent release of the game in Early Access hints to it following the strategy of the first Grounded game: The original game was released in Early Access in July 2020, and the full “complete” edition was released in September 2022.

Look for the “Game Preview/Early Access” version of “Grounded 2” this July 29th for Xbox and PC. When the “final” version is completed in another year or two, it’s anticipated it will also be available on Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 (like the original “Grounded”).

 

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