Obsidian Entertainment's new game called Grounded is getting a unique mode to help out those who want to play the game but can't stand the thought or sight of spiders. The arachnophobia mode as it's currently been referred to will supposedly implement some sort of workaround for those who suffer from the phobia but still want to see what Grounded is all about. Details of how this mode will work haven't yet been revealed, but so far, Obsidian's been praised for just the idea of the mode since it'll allow more people to play the game without being bugged out by the spiders.
The developer revealed the existence of the spider-free mode earlier in the week when a Twitter user said they probably wouldn't be able to play much of the game given the giant spiders that players will come up against. In a reply to the user, Obsidian said the team is implementing something called an "arachnophobia mode" to help those who don't like spiders.
Obsidian's announcement came right around the same time that the game was featured in the latest episode of Inside Xbox where we learned more about Grounded including when the game will be released, so the news comes at a perfect time for anyone who was interested in the game after the showcase but didn't want to play with any spiders.
It appears that the alternate game mode will only do something about the spiders in the game, so if it's other insects you aren't crazy about, you may still see those in Grounded. Given that the game's story revolves around shrunken players navigating a backyard, it wouldn't make much sense to remove bugs entirely, but spiders are apparently a common enough fear to the point that an exception was made here.
We'll have to wait and see what the spider solution looks like whenever Obsidian reveals more details on it, but until that happens, it's clear from the reactions found below that people are all for the arachnophobia mode as an accessibility feature, even if it's not something they need themselves.
Grounded releases through the Xbox Game Preview program on July 28th.
Appreciation from Those With Arachnophobia