Putting together an RPG is hard. Regardless of type, they're nebulous projects that require all sorts of creativity to get right. The Outer Worlds and Avowed studio Obsidian Entertainment would know, since the studio's released quite a few, and according to its findings, putting out a beta build first doesn't necessarily help, though there are exceptions.
At Summer Game Fest 2026, Chris Parker, game director for Grounded 2, explained to us that letting players in earlier can work in some instances, but not for sprawling role-playing adventures. "Obsidian got its first real taste for this with Pillars of Eternity, which was not an early access game per se, it was a Kickstarter, but we were constantly updating the community and letting them know about stuff," he tells GamesRadar+.
"I think we recognized that that sort of relationship with the community can't be replicated with just a bunch of devs hanging out," he continues. "No matter how hard you try, and how Socratic your philosophical discussions may be, you're never going to get that huge big picture."
He admits that "it worked out amazingly well" for the first Grounded, but on the large narrative sandboxes Obsidian also develops, like The Outer Worlds games, the approach is less enticing. "It's not going to make sense for every game we make," he starts. "When you're making a huge, super crunchy story-based RPG, I think that's probably pretty hard to put into early access."
There are exceptions, as Larian Studios managed to figure out, but Parker considers that an outlier. "Baldur's Gate 3 seems to have done it pretty well, so maybe there's room for that," he muses. "But when we're starting a game, it's like, 'Hey, does this make sense for this game,' and I think you're gonna see sometimes for us it does, and sometimes it doesn't."
But, as he sees it, "for Grounded 2, it's perfect." The sequel became available for Xbox Series X/S and PC players in July last year, and PlayStation 5 fans can join in come August.
Best controller: GameSir G7 Pro
Best headset: SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless
Best monitor: LG UltraGear
Best laptop: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
Best keyboard: Corsair Vanguard Pro 96
Best mouse: Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro
Best chair: Fractal Refine
