First, the Creature Aggression and Aggro Range of certain creatures were too high, causing creature encounters and combat to turn into a giant, never-ending fight or chase. This was especially common with the Mosquitoes.

The other big piece of feedback was that the O.G.R.R. Toe Biter Leviathan encounter was too difficult.

The team has made some changes based on this feedback, and we hope the game feels more balanced and, more importantly, fun for you. If you are encountering any issues or would like to report additional information, please let us know and we're happy to help. As always, thank you for helping us make Grounded 2 a better experience.

Creature Aggression:

This is only our first step toward making this more balanced, and as always, we’ll continue to listen to player feedback.

• Removed 50% of the spawns for Mosquitoes and Tiger Mosquitoes
• Significantly reduced the vision range of Mosquitoes and Wasps
• Also significantly reduced the range at which these creatures will follow the player

O.G.R.R Toe Biter Leviathan:

• Removed the Woozy Attack
• Reduced the nymph spawning chance
• Reduced the damage and health of the O.G.R.R. Toe Biter Leviathan

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where the Toe Biter Scythe would gain the “Chop” effect when upgraded with any elemental damage
  • Due to this fix players are required to fight the O.G.R.R. Toe Biter Leviathan as originally intended to upgrade to the Tier 4 Omni Axe
  • If you have been having trouble receiving Infused Ooze from this fight, check the floor around the boss arena
  • We have also seen the “love” for this bug, and we are investigating whether there is a way to bring back this functionality in the future. No promises, though. 🙂
• Fixed an issue where, when perfect blocking, the player would still take damage from the O.G.R.R. Toe Biter Leviathan

Major Bug Fixes:

• Various crashes on all platforms have been addressed
  • This includes improvements for players who have been receiving an Out of Memory crash on PS5
• Fixed an issue where the objective to find “BURG.L’s Head” could become blocked on certain saves
• Fixed an issue where, on some saves, Ominent employee remains were missing, preventing players from picking up Optical Discs. As a result, players should notice that these items are now retrievable on their saves.
• Fixed an issue where “Text Block” would appear for the player when talking to Sloane after interacting with the MIX.R too early

General Bug Fixes:

• Resolved an issue that was causing client player’s backpacks to float under the map preventing players from retrieving them
• The contents of your backpack should no longer be transferred to your Buggy Inventory when you pick up your backpack while riding a Buggy
• Players should no longer be able to damage other players with the Omni Clipper
• Players should now be able to respawn in the Gnarly Bark Outpost
• Fixed an issue where the Pergola Ranger Station unlocks in the wrong spot in the Park
• Fixed an issue where players could teleport out of the map when jumping off their Buggy in certain locations
• Fixed an issue where hiding a player icon results in all player icons being hidden for everyone in the session
• Fixed an issue where the player is unable to switch camera modes after running into a web while hauling an item
• Non PTS POI's will no longer show up as locked when being observed through the PTS Fast Travel UI

We are aware that players are experiencing other issues outside of these fixes, and we hope to release a bigger patch as soon as possible.

Thank you for your feedback and patience while we work to resolve these issues! Please continue to report your issues through our Issue Tracker.

You have 48 hours. Vote now: discord.gg/GroundedTheGame

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug where the Client is not able to equip a Torch or Shield while riding a buggy
• Fixed an issue where backpacks would not float underwater
• Fixed an issue where the Slip n' Slide Ranger Challenge is not functioning properly
• Fixed a bug where “Genuine Gathering Ant” buffed loot luck for all items
• Improved Animations of the Teens when holding 2 handed weapons
• Toe Biter Buggy should now follow you when wearing a diving suit in the pond
• Fixed an issue where when jumping from great heights, the player could be removed from their Buggy and get softlocked mid air
• Fixed an issue where logout saves are not being overwritten when quitting the game
• Fixed a crash for clients that can occur when loading a save when buggies have are hauling planks
• Fixed an issue where any MIX.R could become unrepairable and award no Raw Science if the player saves/loads after its completion
• Fixed an issue where Ominent ladders could be damaged causing permanent progression breaks
• Fixed an issue where the Founders Pack items were not available for users who purchased it
• Fixed an issue where the player would have to jump onto the zipline while having the ZIP.R unlocked
• Various Crash and Stability Fixes on all platforms
• Fixed an issue where “Diving the Depths” would not autocomplete for Users who have already upgraded the Omni-tool
  • Player needs only to harvest needed resources instead of analyzing them if they are in this state
• Fixed an issue where in offline mode, you would not be able to login
• Fixed an issue where Users could not sprint on their Toe Biter Buggy at random times

With Into the Abyss, it's finally time to take the plunge.

Our biggest update yet expands the park with an entirely new underwater experience that transforms how you'll explore, build, and survive. From sprawling new locations and underwater base building to dangerous new creatures, expanded progression, and a new amphibious Buggy, this update isn't just about adding more space—it's about introducing a whole new dimension to Grounded 2.

Welcome to The Abyss

The pond has always stood out as one of Brookhollow Park's largest landmarks, but what you've seen so far is only the beginning.

Beneath the surface lies one of Grounded 2's largest new areas to date. What first appears to be a familiar pond quickly opens into a sprawling environment with surprising verticality, hidden routes, and new points of interest. Beyond the shoreline, you'll also venture into new surrounding areas, including the Bayou and the Mountains, while those willing to take the plunge can descend into the Abyss itself.

Every dive rewards curiosity, but it also demands preparation. The deeper you descend, the more you'll rely on upgraded gear, careful planning, and your understanding of the environment to survive what waits below.

Every Dive Starts Before You Enter the Water

Surviving beneath the surface means preparing differently than you have before.

The new Diving Suit introduces a progression path built around underwater exploration. Discovering Optical Disks unlocks new Diving Suit recipes, allowing you to craft upgraded equipment for longer expeditions and opening access to even deeper parts of the pond.

Rather than treating underwater exploration as a short detour, Into the Abyss makes it an entirely new gameplay loop. Each upgrade opens new opportunities to explore deeper, discover hidden resources, and uncover more of what the pond has to offer.

Build a Home Below the Surface

Players have built incredible creations throughout Brookhollow Park since Early Access began, and we're excited to see what you'll create next.

For the first time, you'll be able to establish fully underwater bases, opening entirely new possibilities for where and how you build. New underwater building pieces, including Bubble Floors that create breathable spaces beneath the surface, let you transform the depths into your next home, staging area, or research outpost.

Whether you're building for function, creativity, or simply because you've always wanted an underwater base, this update expands your toolbox in exciting new ways.

New Ways to Fight. New Reasons to Prepare.

Of course, the pond isn't giving up its secrets without a fight.

Into the Abyss introduces new underwater combat encounters with both familiar and brand-new creatures. Returning threats like the Diving Bell Spider now share the water with new predators including the Toe Biter, while CNK robots and Pond Jockeys create new dangers throughout the surrounding areas. Every expedition asks you to rethink your gear, builds, and approach before taking the plunge.

If you'd rather have a Toe Biter on your side than standing in your way, they can also be tamed and transformed into your newest Buggy. Its amphibious nature lets you seamlessly travel between land and water, opening new routes through the park while making exploration and combat feel more connected than ever.

As always, choosing the right gear, mutations, and build before setting out can make all the difference once things go sideways.

More Waiting to Be Found

Beyond the pond itself, Into the Abyss expands Brookhollow Park with new collectibles, additional rewards for exploration, and more reasons than ever to wander off the beaten path.

Hidden throughout Brookhollow Park are Critter Capz, collectible bug-themed figurines waiting to be discovered. Tucked away in hidden corners and off-the-beaten-path locations, they're a reward for curious explorers and completionists alike, encouraging you to revisit familiar areas and uncover every new path the update has to offer.

Your Next Adventure Starts Below the Surface

One of our goals with Grounded 2 has always been to make Brookhollow Park feel like a place worth exploring again and again.

Into the Abyss takes that philosophy deeper than ever before. It's not just a new destination; it's a new way to experience the park. Every dive presents new choices, new dangers, and new discoveries waiting just below the surface.

Whether you're chasing every collectible, building an underwater stronghold, or simply determined to see what lies at the very bottom of the pond, we can't wait to watch your next adventure unfold.

Gear up, gather your friends, and take the plunge.

We'll see you in Brookhollow Park.

For the full list of new features, additions, and bug fixes, please head over to our patch notes.

Grounded 2 is available in Game Preview for XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, and ROG XBOX Ally handhelds, and in Early Access on Steam and PlayStation 5. Play with Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass, or purchase the game on your platform of choice. Play on both XBOX Series X|S and XBOX on PC at no additional cost with XBOX Play Anywhere.

Patch 0.4.2 for Grounded 2 is now available to all players. Thank you again for your patience; we greatly appreciate the reports everyone has submitted to our support team! We hope this update will address the performance issues you've been experiencing.

Performance Optimizations:

• Reduced the streaming range of the player, so that less things now load at one time. This should cause significantly less hitching around the Park
  • This will cause all resources to re-grow through your bases
• Performance around player bases and the Park have been optimized to reduce stutters and hitching
  

Omni-Tool Change:

• Due to the changes listed above, we have changed the Omni-Tool to one-hit all resources that are re-growing only through player-built structures
  • This will occur again in the 0.5 "Into the Abyss" Update on August 11
  • We expect this to be taken full advantage of, have fun.
    

Crashing/Stability:

• Fixed various crashes in 0.4.2.
  • 35% of the crashes hit in 0.4.1 should be fixed in 0.4.2

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where AXL could be softlocked mid fight and roar infinitely
• Fixed an issue that was causing Half Int. Corner Stairs to change and rotate into a different position

More players are about to enter Brookhollow Park.

We're excited to share that Grounded 2 launches on PlayStation 5 on August 11, bringing an entirely new community of players into the park as we continue growing the game throughout our early access development period.

Since day one, Grounded has been built alongside its community. Some of the biggest features, improvements, and changes in the original game came directly from player feedback, and that's something we've carried forward into Grounded 2.

Whether you're stepping into the park for the first time or you've already been surviving your way through Brookhollow Park, August 11 is shaping up to be a big day.

Launching alongside the PlayStation 5 release is our next major content update, Into the Abyss.

This update opens the pond, giving players an entirely new area to explore both above and below the water's surface. It's one of the biggest additions to the game so far and brings new locations to discover, new progression paths to pursue, and new dangers waiting both above and below the water.

The pond is more than just a body of water. Players will explore new areas like the Mountains, the Bayou, and the depths below the surface, each offering new discoveries and challenges. As they progress, diving suits will allow them to stay underwater longer and reach previously inaccessible areas, while familiar creatures like the koi fish and diving bell spider return alongside new surprises waiting to be uncovered.

Players will also get their hands on the Toe-biter, a new amphibious Buggy capable of traversing both land and water. Whether you're exploring the shoreline, searching for hidden secrets, or trying to escape whatever is chasing you, the Toe-biter opens up entirely new ways to experience the pond.

We're especially excited for players to see what the team has been building. The pond gave us an opportunity to revisit underwater exploration with everything we've learned from the original Grounded, while continuing to expand what Grounded 2 can be.

August 11 marks the next milestone for the game. New players will be joining the adventure, existing players will have a massive new area to explore, and Brookhollow Park will continue growing with every update still to come.

We'll see you in the park.

Grounded 2 is currently available in Game Preview for XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, and ROG XBOX Ally handhelds, in Early Access on Steam, and you can play it on Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. Play it on both XBOX Series X|S and XBOX on PC at no additional cost with XBOX Play Anywhere. Coming to PlayStation 5 on August 11, 2026.

On your mark, get set, Buggy Racing! Thank you so much for everyone who provided feedback and bug reporting during our PTB period. Playgrounds Mode has been updated and includes a brand-new starting map and Buggy Racing! The 0.4.1 Update also includes Steam Deck Support, and a much-needed fix for our PVP Community. Happy brawling!

Grounded 2 Executable Swap:

• We have officially changed our exe version: WinGRTS → Win64.
  • As of this update, Steam Deck Users can now link a Microsoft account and play online with their friends/use crossplay functionality.

Note:

• With this executable change, all player settings will be reset as a result of this change. This is a one-time reset, and we plan on saving your settings in the future permanently. We do apologize for any inconveniences this may cause you.

Playgrounds - Buggy Racing and New Map is now available!

• New Playground Starting Map - Lakeside Loop
• New Racing Mode for Playgrounds that allows players to build their own racetracks:
  • 1-4 Players can race each other on buggies in either point-to-point or lap races
  • New Playground objects to allow players to make their own racetracks
    • Race Start - Allows players to begin the race
    • Race Waypoint - A basic checkpoint illuminated by a short column of light
    • Race Waypoint Gate - A rectangular gate illuminated around the edges.
    • Sticky Sap - Something to slow down the racers.
    • Speed Boost Pad - Something to give racers a temporary speed boost

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug where every perfect block was stunning the attacking Character in PvP.
• Fixed a bug where Handy Gnat did not have unlimited range.
• Fixed a bug where hanging stuffed creatures would fall after changing the mode.
• Fixed a bug where incorrect death messages were displayed after death from gizmo.
• Fixed a bug where knocked over Mallet get back to its previous position after updating the game to the newest version.
• Fixed a bug where opening the Building Grid or crafting menus would cause a crash on lower end PCs.
• Fixed a bug where Player on Steam Deck was always joining first Multiplayer lobby listed instead of the selected one.
• Fixed a bug where Steam players sometimes were unable to see hosted games.
• Fixed a bug where the sizzle from gizmo would not stop increasing.
• Fixed a bug where title was freezing when Client was sorting mixed and unstacked Smoothies of different types.
• Fixed a bug where Web Master mutation could be quickly upgraded by repeatedly using Web Throw ability on a Snail hidden in its shell.
• Fixed a bug where Wooly Whoppers were not available in Playgrounds.
• Fixed an issue where Arachnophobia Safe Mode would not affect the O.G.R.R. Wolf Spider Creature Card preview in SCA.B 2K’s Data menu.
• Fixed an issue where certain resources would not count toward Rock Cracker Mutation progression.
• Fixed an issue where player could attack their own Black Ant Buggy.
• Fixed an issue where Player could reach a specific spot in the King Dozers Arena corner which rendered them immune to most of the King Dozers attacks.
• Fixed an issue where the Player was unable to delete the save file associated with a Playgrounds map that was published multiple times.
• Fixed an issue where the player would disappear and lose all movement input after being AFK in Handy Gnat.
• Fixed an issue where the Shared World logout save would be deleted upon renaming a prior save and restarting the title.
• Fixed an issue where the title would crash after removing/recycling the ladder.
• Fixed an issue where turning on “Read to Me” and setting subtitles to All would crash a game on Steam Deck.
• Fixed an issue with a “Customize” Keybind still working after changing or deleting the mapping.
• Fixed an issue with displaying wrong error message when trying to publish a playground, while being disconnected from the internet.
• Fixed an issue with Ladybug ram attack dealing multiple hits while sprinting around the King Dozer hitboxes.
• Fixed an issue with picture overlapping with the text and the main widget in the Playground’s creation screen.
• Fixed an issue with the Creator and Download Code not updating after the first map was selected.
• Fixed an issue with the items in the upgraded Buggy’s storage being deleted after the Player’s death.
• Fixed an issue with the Orb Weaver Buggy taking twice as long to hatch.
• Fixed an issue with the Steam Deck hard locking in certain menus.
• Fixed an issue with Xbox Network Login screen remaining on the Main Menu screen on Steam Deck.

Bug Fixes From PTB to Live:

• Fixed Various Stability Issues

Thank you so much for your continued support and we look forward to seeing your Buggy racecourses! Please join our Official Discord Server and share your Playgrounds with us, we are very eager to check them out and might do a Playgrounds showcase live on our dev streams.

As always, stay safe and stay Grounded.

Grounded 2 Executable Swap:

• We have officially changed our exe version, from WinGRTS → Win64.
  • As of this update, Steam Deck Users can now link a Microsoft account and play online with their friends/use crossplay functionality.

Note:

• With this executable change, all player settings will be reset as a result of this change. This is a one-time reset and we plan on saving your settings in the future permanently.

Playgrounds - Buggy Racing and New Map is now available!

• New Playground Starting Map - Lakeside Loop
• New Racing Mode for Playgrounds that allows players to build their own racetracks:
  • 1-4 Players can race each other on buggies in either point-to-point or lap races
  • New Playground objects to allow players to make their own racetracks
    • Race Start - Allows players to begin the race
    • Race Waypoint - A basic checkpoint illuminated by a short column of light
    • Race Waypoint Gate - A rectangular gate illuminated around the edges.
    • Sticky Sap - Something to slow down the racers.
    • Speed Boost Pad - Something to give racers a temporary speed boost

Please note that this is the first iteration of Buggy Racing, more will be added based on your feedback. 

Stay safe, and stay Grounded!

Helpful links:

• Public Test Patch Notes
• How to Access the Public Test
• How to Report a Bug
• Saving Your Game Save File

We are releasing patch 0.4.0.2.3661 on all available platforms. Thank you so much for your patience while we get fixes out. If you come across any additional issues, please contact us on our Issue Tracker.

General Change:

• Spider Webs will now de-spawn after 24 hours. This change was made to help players who did not get the spider web fix in 0.4.0.1
  • This only functions when the player is not near it

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where Buggies had trouble hitting resources up close
  • it should now be easier to bust resources on the Ladybug Buggy
• Fixed an issue where a Buggy could permanently become unavailable if it died after the player
• Fixed a crash when loading your world
  • This is also the same bug where you would lose progress in your world after re-loading your same save
• Fixed an issue where the Client would not have their Buggy assigned upon relogging in
• Fixed Various Performance Issues around the park and Various forms of optimization has occurred in 0.4.0.2
  • This will not fix all hitches, but it should be significantly better. We plan to have more optimization fixes in our next update.
• Fixed an issue where you were unable to swap camera modes after getting stuck in a spider web
• Fixed an issue where the Space Bar | or A on controller, had no effect when customizing the SCAB.2k
• Fixed an issue where “A Strange Warning” quest could not be completed on a specific save

If you come across other issues, please contact us at Support. Thank you.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug where the host would be forced to re-select a teen after a client joining a session
• Fixed a bug on Steamdeck that forced joystick icons on screen
• Fixed a bug where spider webs took over The Park causing Performance drops
  • This is retroactive to your save file, but the spider webs are still present by default. We suggest that you remove them
• Improved Buggy Calling inside the Black Anthill