Grounded will have an "arachnophobia mode" for players who can't stand spiders

A player character faces off against a spider in Grounded.
(Image credit: Obsidian)

Grounded is a game about surviving in your own backyard by exploring, building a base, and fighting off (relatively) giant spiders - unless you turn on arachnophobia mode. Spider anti-fans of the world, the developers of this game finally have your back.

Obsidian revealed that Grounded will come to Xbox Game Preview and Xbox Game Pass in July earlier this week. The teaser trailer it showed off at the time included several battles against creepy arachnid foes. When arachnophobic players took to social media to share how those moments were pretty much one big "nope" for them, Obsidian had an answer.

Spiders are a prominent foe in Grounded, and they also shape the game's environment by leaving behind webs. The new trailer even demonstrated the use of a trampoline item that looks like it was probably crafted using spider silk. With all that in mind, Obsidian says it's still working on how arachnophobia mode will work.

Even if Grounded's arachnophobia mode fully outlaws spiders, it will still have plenty of fauna for you to contend with. Here's a snippet of our preview from the first time we got to see the game last year.

"Speaking of insects, Grounded is full of them. The backyard is quite literally crawling with spiders, flies, bees, aphids, dust mites, ladybugs, and plenty of creepy-crawlies that we weren't allowed to see (although I did catch a glimpse of a very big praying mantis on their production whiteboard, so enjoy that future nightmare). The insects all display different behaviors, have unique goals, and serve distinctive functions for your survival. You can collect the dust from fallen dust mites and use it to craft clothing. A ladybug can lead you to a food source, while an aphid can become a food source."

Shake off the creepy crawlies with our look ahead at the best upcoming Xbox One games for 2020 and beyond.

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.