Grounded gets the new Koi Pond update as it hits 5 million players

Grounded is getting a new update which lets players explore a whole new underwater biome. In a new trailer, developer Obsidian showed off The Koi Pond expansion and the terrors that lurk in the depths.

The Koi Pond launched last night, and its biggest change is the addition of a new area to explore. The titular water feature means a whole new biome full of aquatic creatures, from tadpoles and water boatmen to a monstrous Koi fish and frankly horrifying swimming spiders. To help increase your chances of survival, however, there are also new items to craft, including underwater lanterns to light your way and rebreathers to let you hold your breath in the depths.

Obsidian is keen to make sure that players know Grounded is still very much in early access in spite of the new content drop, but elsewhere it definitely wants you to know about the game's success. In a blog post accompanying that trailer, the studio announced that more than five million players have tried the game out. Those numbers are likely to have been helped along by Grounded's presence on Xbox Game Pass, but it's certainly still an impressive milestone.

Obsidian is also providing next-gen support for Grounded, targeting 60fps and improved loading times across both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. The more powerful console is also getting 4K support and better draw distances, and since Grounded is one of the Xbox Series X Smart Delivery games, you'll automatically upgrade to the best available version of the game at no extra cost.

Grounded's been optimised for next-gen, but here are the official Xbox Series X launch games.