In Grounded, you are shrunk to the size of an ant and must survive in the beautiful yet perilous micro-world of a suburban backyard. This harsh and dangerous landscape can be navigated solo or with up to three additional players in co-operative multiplayer, as you work together to progress through thrilling story-based missions or explore the farthest reaches of the intricately detailed game world.

You hear the voice of a mysterious robot named BURG.L. He seems to know what’s going on and lets you know that the machine to turn you back to normal size is currently out of order. For now, everything in the backyard is trying to kill you and it’s up to you – and up to three friends, if you’re playing co-operative multiplayer – to survive the perilous landscape.

The backyard is rife with different kinds of ants, flying insects, and spiders. You must gather, craft, and build bases from scavenged items found in the backyard, searching for life-saving resources such as the dew off grass to quench your thirst or transforming an acorn shell into body armor to defend against a host of unpredictable creatures. Can you thrive against the hordes of giant insects, fighting to survive the perils of the backyard?

The Grounded team is proud to announce that over 10 million players have visited the Backyard!

Running from February 10 at 10:00 AM PT through February 13 at 8:00 PM PT, new players can experience Grounded and check out the latest update, Into the Wood, through the free weekend.

It has been great seeing so many players come to find out what it’s like to be shrunk down to the size of an ant. An even better feeling is seeing so many people playing before the game reaches its full release.

Grounded Game Director Adam Brennecke, along with the team, have put together the above short video thanking everyone for their support in getting to this tremendous milestone. As an added bit of celebration, the team is also releasing a Grounded-themed dynamic background for Xbox players so they can have a beautiful shot of the Backyard with them on their dashboard any time they boot up their console. 

While the team is working on getting to that full release, they still have some updates to fill out the current state of the backyard. The most recent one, update 0.12, is a doozy with plenty of new areas for adventurers to explore and new creatures to encounter. Making their way towards the upper yard, players will first discover that the BBQ has now been knocked over. This creates a dangerous and sizzling path on the way towards the woodpile, so players should be prepared to face the heat. 

Once players have made their way through the ash, they will get themselves into the all-new woodpile, the lair of a brand- new creature in the backyard: the termites! The woodpile is an immense dungeon home to a new creature that you can use to craft not only a new tier 3 axe, but also a new chest armor piece.  

That’s not all the update brings, though! Along with the termites and soldier termites that are found in the woodpile, there are 8 other creatures coming into the backyard. Be on the lookout for the black ox beetles, dust mites, scarabs, green shield bugs, ladybug larvae, ladybirds, and the recently infected (and community suggested) wolf spiders (complete with their own unique Danger Dumpling color scheme for anyone playing in arachnophobia mode).

Speaking of community suggestions, the team is always listening, and made a host of new improvements based on player feedback. First among those is the ability to craft many items at once. You can now craft up to five of any one item that you have the resources for. The all- new Peep.R mode lets players focus in on areas across the map and mark points of interest for themselves and other players. When it comes to crafting, are you looking for a certain material to finish that item? Head to the new Resource Survey Stations, scan a material type, and find out where that item is located currently in the yard. Finally, players now have the ability to hot deposit storage items in chests and containers making inventory management even better. 

Players can also make a Black Ox Axe, Splinter Arrows, two new meal recipes, a new set of Burr Weed base floors, a new spicy weapon, and for achievement hunters, eight8 brand- new achievements to unlock.

Grounded is only getting bigger and better as the team makes progress towards the 1.0 release later this year and we could not do it without all the support that our community has given us.

To summarize, you want to: Go Big Or Never Go Home.

Available through Xbox Game Preview with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Steam Early Access, Grounded will be available for Xbox One digitally through Xbox Game Pass, and PC (Microsoft Store/Steam) in 2022.