Xbox Game Pass was playing a little sneaky game in generating hype: There was a tweet from the official PC Game Pass account that told gamers to “zoom in on the left spider’s body,” with an attached image that, if you looked at it for a moment, could have been dismissed as some creepy critters chilling in the grass. But gaming teases are never straightforward.”
If you just squint hard enough (or, maybe, the easier way: just zoom in exactly as told), here comes a hidden message scrawled on that spider’s back that reads: “Grounded 2 is coming July 29.” Yep, Obsidian Entertainment’s notionally survival game is in for a sequel, and Xbox decided to basically force us all to stare at a spider as if it were an ancient parchment.
The replies on the twitter account were pure gold. Some players were simply too horrified to take a closer look (“I DONT WANNA ZOOM ON THE SPIDER! Shudders,” one user said), but others immediately began to beg for the game to be added to Game Pass day one. Another user jokingly asked, “Is that a legally binding contract saying you can sign me up for Game Pass without my knowledge or consent for the next 16 months!?” (Microsoft, please don’t.)
Yet, not all of them went well for it. Some players argued that they were still quite deep into games like Abiotic Factor and just weren’t ready to switch gears just yet. Meanwhile, others were just glad to finally have something to finish with the phrase, “Lol finally a game I finished.”
The original Grounded was a shock hit, mixing Honey, I Shrunk the Kids-style survival with Obsidian’s trademark humor and polish. Players were dropped in a backyard as diminutive, defenseless humans forced to fend away ants, spiders, and an occasional careless lawnmower. The announcement of a sequel, bizarre as it was, has fans and arachnophobes alike drooling for what’s next.
Some, of course, decided to roast Xbox for that handwriting. “For those that can’t read this terrible writing: Grounded 2 is coming July 29,” said one helpful user in translation. Another straight-up demanded, “Add this into the game pass,” because, why wait when one can just manifest?
But the actual MVP is the spider, really! That little eight-legged messenger does a lot more marketing than some entire PR teams. Someone from Xbox definitely deserves at least a raise for this stunt, or maybe just a free lunch.
Survival fans, mark your calendar. July 29 will be the day when we get shrunk (and probably eaten by spiders) again. Just maybe don’t zoom in so much next time.
