Obsidian’s Grounded has a seriously impressive Arachnophobia Mode, so anyone can play
A spider slider… Splider?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
What you need to know
Groundedis shaping up to be a very impressive addition to the Xbox Game Studios lineup, and is debuting in theXbox Game Preview and Steam Early Access programson July 28, 2020. However, abigproblem is likely prevent many potential players from trying out the game for themselves, and that’s the existence of spiders. Spiders are the largest and most aggressivemobsin Grounded, which understandably is going to make people with arachnophobia or discomfort related to spiders wary of the game.
Obsidian Entertainment is aware of this, and they’ve implemented an extremely detailed Arachnophobia Mode into the game, which frankly needs to be copied by every single game featuring spiders, that allows players to slowly “turn off” spiders using a slider. You can have full spiders or just two floating hit boxes with no textures or stand out features, or anywhere in between.
Obsidian Entertainment wants to make their game accessible to as many people as possible, and this is a great way to help include one of the most common phobias people can have: the fear of spiders. Grounded has even gone so far as to ensure that the preview image doesn’t show in settings until the player chooses to view the image, so players won’t have to come in contact with a spider before they’ve suitably stripped it of its more terrifying assets.
If you’re interested, you can check out this awesome interview with technical game designer Jerrick Flores from Obsidian Entertainment here atGamespotfor more details on the game’s Arachnophobia Mode, or join us as we jump into the Early Access and Game Preview for Grounded starting tomorrow.
It’s a big(ger) world out there.
Obsidian Entertainment makes their exclusive debut on Xbox One and PC with Grounded, a unique survival experience that literally makes all of your problems much, much bigger. Join your friends as you’re shrunk down to the size of an ant, forced to survive in a dangerous backyard.
Grounded
Main
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter@BoddyZachary.
