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The Grounded 1.0 update - aka the full release of Grounded - is out very soon, with new areas, items, enemies and even a boss fight to deal with: the Mantis. After two years of gestating in Early Access, Grounded is now officially going to be out of the larval stage and ready to parasitically burrow into the soft brains of - well, it's nearly finished, that's the point. There's still a lot to discover about the 1.0 release, and it's likely that we'll uncover more closer to the time, but Obsidian has revealed a fair amount of information already - so we'll cover everything we know about Grounded 1.0 below, and what you can expect to find in the backyard on release day.
Everything being added in Grounded 1.0 that we know of so far
Grounded 1.0 has had several features announced already, as outlined in a news post on Obsidian's official site, though is clearly not revealing everything yet. The developers openly admit to "some secrets that we just can’t bring ourselves to spoil for you all", but have also cheerfully revealed some other elements that'll be added in Grounded 1.0:
- Full campaign
- New Upper Yard and Undershed areas
- New Mantis boss fight
- New armor and weapon recipes
- New Black Widow spider enemy
- Combat and AI improvements
The allusion to other secrets implies that there'll be more besides this glut of content - presumably found in the Upper Yard? It remains to be seen, especially considering that the release trailer is somewhat coy about showing new content. However, we'll cover what we know about the update and the big new additions mentioned above, starting with the important question:
Grounded 1.0 release date
The Grounded 1.0 update is planned to be released on September 27th - a free update to all those who already own the game (or have access to it already via Game Pass), that'll be the only accessible version of the game going forward. No details on the time of release yet, but Obsidian Entertainment are based on the West Coast, so we can likely expect it to either be a midnight release, or sometime during working hours for those on PDT.
Now that's covered, let's address the more exciting stuff: what we can expect to be added in the update.
There'll be a complete Grounded campaign
Recent updates have added additional chapters to the main story to extend and build upon the short and unfinished campaign that was part of the original build, but 1.0 will feature the full and final story campaign for Grounded. As Obsidian describes it: "now players will be able to unravel the entire mystery behind Grounded and their shrunkeness. Find out how the teens got into the yard and the mad scientist behind it in the fully playable campaign – all of which can be experienced alone or with a group of friends."
It's not clear yet if this'll mean that the story will have a definitive ending - presumably where teens regain their original size - or whether it'll simply be solving the mystery and staying small so you can keep exploring the backyard post-campaign.
New Grounded areas and biomes, The Upper Yard and the Undershed
Two new areas are being added to Grounded: the Upper Yard, a promotional picture for which has been released (see above), and the Undershed, a network of tunnels briefly shown in the release trailer that will, presumably, be under the garden shed. No clear details on what to expect in each one yet, though the shots of the Upper Yard seem to depict an ornamental rock garden, while the Undershed shows dark tunnels with numerous pipes criss-crossing back and forth.
No word as of yet if this update will also finish biomes that are still works in progress, such as the Upper Grasslands, or if these will be added in future updates.
There's a new Mantis boss fight
The Mantis was a boss hotly requested by the Grounded community, and it has now been confirmed that it'll be added to the game as part of 1.0. Details are thin on the ground regarding where it is and what it's actually capable of - the promotional image shows it standing about twice the height of the players around it, in some sort of arena that looks like it's above ground, but enclosed by foliage - possibly in the upcoming Upper Yard? It remains to be seen, as well as if it's as deadly - and as hard to lure out - as the Broodmother boss fight.
New Grounded weapon and armor recipes
New weapons and armor have been confirmed by Obsidian, but two examples have been revealed via various leaks and dataminers - the Blossoming Assassin armor set and the Scythe of the Blossoming Assassin melee weapon. The actual details of all this gear and what it's capable of has yet to be released, but we know it's going to be created from the remains and rewards of killing the Mantis. We even see characters wearing it in the trailer - it looks pretty snazzy, and presumably it'll be pretty powerful.
New Black Widow spider enemy
Though not hugely prevalent in the marketing material, we do see a unique new Grounded enemy in the trailer: the Black Widow spider. Though easily mistaken for the Broodmother, this new, equally horrible enemy is sleeker and less ornate, as well as featuring the telltale red mark on its back. God knows how it'll fare in combat - likely filling players full of poison with every bite.
New Grounded combat and AI improvements
To be fair, we can't say for certain that these improvements will be part of 1.0, but the official Feature Board on the Grounded website lists them as "in progress" and part of the same timescale as all the other features emerging in 1.0, so if they're not out on 27 September, they'll likely be out not long afterwards. No word as of yet what that'll include, whether it's quality of life improvements or larger overhauls of battle mechanics and bug brains.
Grounded roadmap for post-release content
Yes, there's plenty of content planned for Grounded even after the 1.0 update, according to the Feature Board mentioned above. At time of writing Obsidian has broken everything it has planned into three phases: "in progress" (which pretty much covers everything coming out in 1.0), "Planned", "For the Future", and "Future Considerations". Here's the full list of what players can expect to be emerging into the backyard:
- Coming Soon (likely in 1.0)
- Story
- New bosses
- Combat improvements
- AI improvements
- Planned
- Additional backyard environments
- Additional weapon types
- Ant Pheromone control
- More Tier III Armor/Weapons
- Base Blueprints: higher tier structures
- Base Blueprints: decorations
- Additional crafting materials
- For the Future
- Additional backyard environments
- Additional creatures and insects
- Weather
- Backyard changing events
- Base Blueprints: powered buildings
- Base Blueprints: framework for player generated gameplay
- Insect pet enhancements
- Bird improvements / additional interactions
- Additional crafting stations
- Additional BURG.L quest types
- Future Considerations
- Dedicated Server
Clearly there's a lot planned for Grounded, both in 1.0 and beyond, making it a pretty good time to either get into the game or come back to it after a long hiatus. If you're a returning bug-hunter, why not check out our Grounded tips page to help you learn about how to get the backyard under control?
