Surprise! Obsidian is making Grounded 2, and it's launching into Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview next month

The Xbox Games Showcase came equipped with an announcement that nobody could have anticipated: Grounded 2 is not only in development, but it's launching into Xbox Game Preview and Steam Early Access on July 29, 2025.

To be clear, don't mistake my surprise here as me suggesting that Grounded doesn't deserve a sequel. It absolutely does – the miniaturised adventure was a big success, after all. Rather, my surprise here is because Grounded only came out of early access on Xbox in 2022, and launched on PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch last year.

Rather than continue supporting Grounded as a live-service for years on end – like fellow Xbox Game Studios developer Rare has done with Sea of Thieves – Obsidian has instead opted to pursue an absolutely gorgeous sequel. The Grounded 2 reveal trailer seems to hint at an expanded playspace for you and three friends, new weapons and building tools, and the arrival of mounts and mounted combat. With the game just weeks away, we won't have long to wait to learn more.

It's worth noting that while Grounded did eventually arrive on Nintendo and PlayStation platforms, Grounded 2 will not be – at least not for the time being. I suspect that this is because the title is launching into early access, and that Obsidian wants to iterate on the core game before expanding out to other platforms.

Grounded 2 wasn't the only announcement from the studio in the Xbox Games Showcase. Upcoming Obsidian game The Outer Worlds 2 also got itself an October 29 release date, which is to say that 2025 is looking increasingly like the Year of Obsidian, with the studio having launched Avowed back in February.

Xbox Games Showcase 2025 needs to build on Microsoft's momentum, but it may need to go beyond The Outer Worlds 2 to pull it off.