Obsidian has revealed Rot and Ruin, the fall update for Grounded 2, its $29.99 survival sequel in Xbox Game Preview. The announcement, posted to Xbox Wire on October 20, covers the full Game Preview footprint: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Game Pass, Steam Early Access, and PlayStation 5. Obsidian has not named a release date beyond this fall, and the game will not leave early access for a 1.0 launch until 2027.
Grounded 2 shrinks players to the size of an ant and drops them in Brookhollow Park, where they craft weapons, forge armor, and build bases alone or in co-op while riding tamed insect Buggies. Rot and Ruin lands while the game is still in early access, so every system it touches remains subject to change before the 1.0 release.
The update opens a new Woodpile adventure area, brings termites back with new attacks, and introduces the Centipede, a boss Obsidian calls one of the community’s most requested creatures. Termites return as Workers, Soldiers, and the Termite King, alongside new O.G.R.R. variants. Obsidian warns of particularly strange behavior the deeper players push into their territory.
A gear loop built around Bismuth
Rot and Ruin pairs the new zone with a higher tier system. Weapons and armor can now be upgraded past the previous ceiling using Bismuth, a resource Obsidian ties to the strange forces of Raw Science beneath the Park. Players gather Bismuth, refine it, and run it through the new Yoking Press. The Woodpile’s termites drop Bismuth, which funds the next upgrade, and each tier makes the zone more survivable. Because termites are the stated source of Bismuth, players who want the new tiers have to engage the zone rather than grind elsewhere. The Centipede sits at the top of that loop, scaled to the higher ceiling.
Painting and a combat-focused buggy
Builders get color for the first time. Paint is crafted and applied with the Splotcher, a paintball gun that coats walls, floors, roofs, stairs, and doors. The new Potato Beetle Buggy is larger than the Ladybug Buggy and built for close-range combat, firing a spread of projectiles and healing its rider with a Healing Roar. It also hauls resources and can feed stored materials into blueprints while parked near a build site.
Obsidian left the specific numbers out of the announcement: the Bismuth tier ceiling, the Centipede’s attacks and health, the buggy’s haul capacity and cooldowns, and how much paint a single batch covers all remain undefined. The update also adds new SCA.B Themes, collectible figurines, and stations that Obsidian has not yet named.
