Obsidian Entertainment has detailed Rot and Ruin, the fall update for its survival game Grounded 2, in an Xbox Wire post on October 20, 2026. It adds a new area, returning and new creatures, a second rideable Buggy and new ways to upgrade gear and decorate your base. Obsidian says the update arrives this fall but did not give an exact date in the post.

Grounded 2 is still in Game Preview on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC, in Early Access on Steam, and also on PlayStation 5. It is included with Game Pass, and Obsidian says version 1.0 will arrive in 2027.

What is new in Rot and Ruin

  • The Woodpile: a new area of towering structures and winding tunnels, now home to Termites, including Workers, Soldiers and the Termite King, plus new O.G.R.R. variants with new attacks
  • A Centipede boss: one of the creatures players asked for most, according to Obsidian
  • Potato Beetle Buggy: bigger than the Ladybug Buggy, built for close range combat, it fires a spread of projectiles, has a Healing Roar and can haul resources for building
  • Painting: craft paint and spray it on walls, floors, roofs and doors with a new paintball gun called the Splotcher
  • Gear Tiers: upgrade weapons and armor with a new resource, Bismuth, at a new station called the Yoking Press
  • New SCA.B themes, collectible figurines and other stations

A much smaller download on PC

The French Xbox site Xboxygen, which covered the public test build on October 7, reported that the update moves the game to Unreal Engine 5.7 and cuts the PC install size from 37 GB to 18 GB, a 51% reduction. It also counted 8 SCA.B colour palettes and 5 figurines to find in the park. The public test was open to Xbox and Steam players at the time.

What it means for players

For current players, Rot and Ruin arrives as an update to the game they already have, and Obsidian’s post does not mention any extra purchase. The gear Tier system matters most for long running save files, since it gives a reason to keep favourite weapons instead of replacing them. Builders get the biggest visual change with painting.

If you have not started yet, the Game Preview edition is listed at $29.99 on the Xbox store and is also part of Game Pass, so subscribers can try the new area once the update lands.