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.
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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.
Good news for you, @TheRealKoding – the @GroundedTheGame team is implementing an arachnophobia mode to help with those who aren’t fans of spiders and still want to enjoy the game! https://t.co/uhlnk4QBs4
โ Obsidian (@Obsidian) April 8, 2020
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.
More Details Coming Soon
There is still research being done as to what it will finally do. Once we’re ready to show it off, we will!
โ Obsidian (@Obsidian) April 8, 2020
Appreciation from Those With Arachnophobia
Hi, I’m an arachnophobe and I saw the headline elsewhere and I just wanted to come over and say thank you so much for putting in the effort to make your game accessible in this way, it’s a small thing but it at the very least makes me feel like spoken to and understood โค๏ธ
โ HereToHelp (Adrian) (@AdrianKClayton) April 10, 2020
Wholesome
obsidian you are wholesome. i have a general fear of bugs so the game wont be for me whatsoever however this move is gunna help A LOT of people ๐
โ marnie ( โ โฟโ ) #letitreign (@GraviticFlux) April 8, 2020
Maybe Not …
Please replace the spiders with clowns. pic.twitter.com/gH5adlEOzo
โ Dan Vincent (@DanVincent) April 8, 2020
A Better Solution
โ Tony Drake (@Juggaloopy) April 8, 2020
Awesome Feature
This is really awesome, my brother has arachnophobia and we have stopped playing so many games because of this. Lately is hard to find a game with no scary spiders
โ Christian Palafox (@palafoxechris) April 10, 2020
It’s Optional!
I imagine this is for GENUINE arachnophobes, not just people who don’t like spiders. As in, people who literally would need to stop playing if they saw one, rather than just being freaked out.
โ Gary Alexander Stott ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ (@GaryAStott) April 9, 2020
A Good Idea
Obsidian’s new game, Grounded, will have an arachnophobia setting where it disables spider stuff.
โ Matthew Williams (@SniperdogSR) April 9, 2020
This is good and more game devs need to do this.
