Grounded 2 is now available on Xbox Game Pass, having been added to the service’s PC and Ultimate-tier catalogs. This day-one release marks the 17th and final new title to reach Xbox Game Pass in July 2025, as well as the 95th new XGP addition since the beginning of the year.
The latest project from the beloved RPG developer Obsidian Entertainment, Grounded 2 is an open-world survival game with some RPG elements, much like its predecessor. It was originally revealed during the early June 2025 Xbox Games Showcase.
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Less than two months following Grounded 2's surprise announcement, Obsidian's newest title is already available on the Xbox Series X/S and PC, having materialized on July 29. Like the first Grounded, its sequel debuted as an early access title that's planned to stay in active production for several years, with player feedback influencing its development along the way. While it doesn't have a last-gen version, Grounded 2 can technically be played on the Xbox One via Xbox Cloud Gaming, an exclusive perk of XGP Ultimate.
New and Upcoming Xbox Game Pass Games
|
Game |
Game Pass Tier(s) |
Platform(s) |
Date |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Grounded 2 |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Jul 29 |
Day-one (Game Preview) release. |
|
Farming Simulator 25 |
Standard, PC, Ultimate |
Cloud, Console, PC |
Aug 1 |
|
|
Gears of War: Reloaded |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Aug 26 |
Day-one release. |
|
Frostpunk 2 |
Ultimate |
Series X/S |
Sep 18 |
Available on PC Game Pass since Sep 20, 2024. |
|
Keeper |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Oct 17 |
Day-one release. |
|
Ninja Gaiden 4 |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Oct 21 |
Day-one release. |
|
The Outer Worlds 2 |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Oct 29 |
Day-one release. |
Obsidian's first Grounded game spent about 24 months in early access. The California-based studio has not provided a specific early access roadmap for the sequel, though it's plausible the project will follow a similar timeline. What Obsidian has said is that Grounded 2 will feature a more relaxed update cadence than its predecessor. Initially, the studio aimed for monthly updates during Grounded's early access period but ultimately found that schedule stressful and counterproductive, saying it frustrated both fans and developers. As a result, Grounded 2's early access updates are planned to be fewer in numbers but larger in content volume.
When Will Grounded 2 Launch on Xbox Game Pass Standard?
As a day-one release, the Game Preview version of Obsidian's latest title is presently not available to Xbox Game Pass Standard subscribers. Based on recent patterns, Grounded 2 is expected to join the Standard-tier library by August 2026, and could arrive as early as late January.
In the meantime, the next catalog update for Microsoft's subscription service is scheduled for July 31, when Xbox Game Pass will lose three titles. Farming Simulator 25 is then set to arrive a day later. The Wave 1 Xbox Game Pass lineup for August 2025 may also be announced on that day. However, with August 1 falling on a Friday and Microsoft having a historical preference for saving such announcements for Tuesdays, the next lineup reveal could instead materialize on August 5. Looking slightly ahead, the Wave 2 roster for next month is already confirmed to include Gears of War: Reloaded, the second remaster of the original GoW game from 2006, slated for release on August 26.
