Grounded 2 was officially announced and revealed last month as part of Xbox's Summer Game Fest 2025 showcase, and a little more than a month later as of the time of this writing, it is out on Xbox Series X/S consoles as a Game Preview title and on PC on Steam as an Early Access game. It's also, of course, available through Xbox Game Pass.
Obsidian Entertainment's sequel to its 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'-esque survival game changes a great deal from the first game, including some significant changes to inventory management simply by removing the need for players to carry multiple key tools like a shovel, axe, and hammer in their backpack at all times, since all three have been replaced by the multi-facted omni-tool.
Inventory management has also improved by the simple fact that you can now raise an ant or spider from birth to be your mount and companion, allowing you to travel with more on you and travel across the map far faster than you ever could in the first game.
Currently, only two mounts are available, though since Grounded 2 is launching as an early access title, there's plenty of time for more mounts to be added and improvements to be made to the game.
As part of Xbox celebrating Grounded 2's launch, Xbox and Microsoft are also giving away a not-so-ant-sized Red Ant plush that players can sit on as if they're riding it while they ride a Red Ant in the game.
When Grounded finally launched out of early access two years after its initial early access launch in 2020, Wccftech's Chris Wray said in his review that "Grounded is undoubtedly one of the best survival games around. While it falls into some of the same traps, getting very grindy and gatekeeping progression while not signposting as well as it should do, there's little doubt that it's a very engaging game. Where many games will give you a world to play around in, Grounded places you in a living, breathing world and has you engage with every element in interesting ways."
While Grounded 2's early access launch is unlikely to hit those same heights, it'll be interesting to see how it develops between community feedback and Obsidian, and if it can surpass the standards set by its predecessor.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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