Obsidian reveals ‘passion project’ survival game Grounded

The Outer Worlds developer Obsidian has announced Grounded, a first-person, co-op survival game set to release in Spring 2020 on Xbox One.

Grounded, which will be the first Xbox Game Preview title available via Game Pass, has players “shrunken to the size of an ant” and tasked with surviving in the micro-world of a suburban backyard.

Players must gather, craft and build bases with everyday objects found within the yard, Obsidian said, searching for life-saving resources and living alongside giant, peaceful insects while fighting to survive hostile inhabitants.

The game world can be navigated solo or in four-person co-operative multiplayer, where players work together to complete missions or explore.

The game is described as the “passion projection” of a small development team at Obsidian, which it says is “one of many” teams working on new projects internally.

“This title has given the team the creative outlet to bring their years of developing highly regarded games to bear on the survival genre,” said communications director Mikey Dowling in a prepared statement.

“RPGs like The Outer Worlds will always be in Obsidian’s DNA, but from time to time we want to stretch our creative muscles and try things that might be a little different “

Dowling said that Microsoft has been a “fantastic” partner for Grounded and confirmed that development on the game started “long before” its acquisition of Obsidian last year.

“We’re fortunate to be given the freedom to continue flexing our creative muscles and develop the games we want to make.”