Obsidian Entertainment's Grounded first launched in early access back in July 2020, with its full launch coming over two years later. This series of updates saw the experience become far more polished as new features and enemies were added, while bugs were squashed and technical issues solved.
The completed 1.0 launch of Grounded is considerably more polished than during this smaller-scale (literally) survival game's initial debut, bringing it into the ranks of the best Xbox games available. Still, a few small problems have lingered on and require additional patches to deal with. We're continuing to monitor the game's post-launch support, and the official Grounded and Obsidian Entertainment channels, to collect every known issue and any nascent bugs, as well as recent or upcoming fixes and potential workarounds.
It should be noted that, while we appreciate reports on faults we may have missed or additional information on known issues, this is not how players should report problems to the Grounded team. For that purpose, players can head to the Grounded forums or Obsidian Support. There's also the Grounded issue tracker, although this resource is not always the most up-to-date.
Grounded: All known issues and bugs
As more and more players begin to explore the Backyard in Grounded on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, or Windows PC, more imperfections are bound to be discovered and new issues crop up, however small. We'll update this section with any and all known issues we see reported by players and Obsidian Entertainment, as well as what we notice from our own time spent in Grounded. If workarounds are available for any more egregious issues, we'll also include them below the bug in question.
PC players on Steam unable to join or host multiplayer games
Some Grounded players, especially on Steam, are reporting issues joining or hosting multiplayer games. Players who attempt to join or host a multiplayer game are repeatedly kicked, and are unable to do so successfully. The Grounded team is aware of these issues, and has suggested a workaround for players ahead of a more permanent fix.
Workaround: To resolve the multiplayer issues for Steam players, the Grounded team suggests the all players need to be friends with the host (through the Xbox app), and that all players join the host's multiplayer lobby in Grounded before the game is started.
Audio cutting out when switching headsets
Players on PC are reporting issues where audio cuts out after switching headsets.
Workaround: Don't switch headsets after booting up Grounded.
Hedge Ascent not unlocking
A handful of players across all platforms are reporting that the Hedge Ascent Landmark isn't unlocking for them, meaning it won't be marked on the map and players are blocked from getting 100% on the Report Card. The Grounded team is investigating the problem.
Grounded: Recent or upcoming patches, hotfixes, and updates
It's certain that, as issues and bugs surface in Grounded, the team at Obsidian Entertainment will immediately begin working to resolve them. Here, we'll list the most recent patches, hotfixes, and bug squashing updates for Grounded, so you can be aware when an issue plaguing your time in Grounded is fixed. We'll also include any upcoming fixes or updates that are rolling out to players in the near future.
Grounded 1.2.0 — April 25, 2023
Obsidian Entertainment again brought major improvements and new features with the Super Duper update! Naturally, this means more bugs were fixed. Here's the full changelog.
Crash fixes
- The game will no longer crash when dropping certain items directly from a chest.
- Fixed a rare crash linked to Building Integrity.
Major fixes
- The player will no longer clip into objects at the end of a zipline trip.
- Clients no longer always see the Oak Lab explosion flames when joining a game after BURG.L has already been rescued.
- Mantis fight no longer lags when the Mantis attacks.
- Using Photo Mode for long periods of time while hosting a Shared World will no longer make the Shared World appear as if it is not being hosted anymore.
Other fixes
- Player's head will appropriately render when interacting with beds or in conversation.
- Boss music will correctly play after retriggering a boss fight after loading a save game.
- The player cannot sit in chairs when the seat is obstructed by something.
- The player can no longer place overlapping grid-snapped buildings by looking straight up.
- Wolf spiders will not wake up until the third night (second fix).
- Sunken Bones no longer jump around when digging them up on clients.
- The Garden will now ask the player for confirmation when they cancel production using the hotkey.
- Triangle Ash Walls can no longer be walked on.
- Acorn Shells dropped from wall-mounted heads will no longer clip into walls.
- Items on ziplines will no longer clip through objects.
- Fixed collision on car tire rim to allow player to properly drop through small holes.
- ORC Disruptors will drop ingredients when destroyed by the player.
- ORC Disruptors will now play audio correctly on clients.
- Gnats will no longer continue playing animations while dead.
- PEEP.R '???' UI element no longer can get stuck on screen when a creature walks out of PEEP.R view.
- Highlighted key words in item descriptions no longer have large spaces around them when playing the game in aspect ratios smaller than 16x9.
- Grubs now have a hit reaction animation.
- The player's weapons will no longer be shown while zipping after loading a save.
- The player will no longer become oddly stretched when loading a save while on a zipline with a shield.
- Copying unflipped buildings will set the building being placed to unflipped.
- Deposit All can no longer overfill plank and stem pallets.
- Half Stairs can now be placed directly against walls.
- "Take All" will work correctly on Sap Catchers after loading a save.
- Guard Dog mutation and turret damage bonuses now properly work on wave versions of Lawn Mites, Antlions, Larva, Orb Weavers, Orb Weaver Jrs, Ticks, Tiger Mosquitos, and Fire Ant Soldiers.
- The player's facing direction on the map now faces the correct way when they are ascending ziplines.
- Player nameplates will fade out in the correct locations on aspect ratios other than 16:9.
- Curved walls can now have curved floors placed in the middle of the wall's inner side more reliably.
- Foundation Ramps can no longer be placed up against and clipping through walls.
- Items will no longer become stuck on the hotbar when consuming the last item while entering zipline placement mode.
- The player can no longer relocate walls with wall-mounted buildings attached to them.
- Camera monitor feeds no longer show labs with missing art.
- Certain destroyed buildings, such as diagonal walls and straight roofs, will no longer leave floating buildings they previously supported.
- Creatures will no longer sometimes be improperly deleted on load.
- Freeform buildings optionally-snapped to grid buildings will now properly collapse when the supporting buildings are destroyed.
- [Redacted] was asked to hum less.
- Water Containers will display the correct levels after loading a save.
- Lure arrows and gas arrows will now have correct textures when loaded in bows.
- Adjusted the position of a few pre-placed ziplines to make them easier to reach when going up them using the ZIP.R upgrade.
- Diagonal walls will now appear at the correct rotation when changing their material.
- Filtering lists like the Recipe list is now correctly case-insensitive in non-English languages.
- Clubs no longer lose their generic damage type when upgraded down elemental paths.
- Power Droplet no longer triggers the Quickdraw effect
- Infected Wolf Spiders no longer sometimes die while jumping.
- Dead aphids will no longer become stuck in mid-air when falling onto a choppable plant.
- Players with the ZIP.R upgrade will now consistently start zipping in the direction they are facing.
- Pet inventories will no longer appear perpetually empty for clients.
- Hanging stuffed creatures will no longer be hung at unusual angles on sloped ceilings.
- Repairing saves that had the "Missing Scientist" quest complete but did not have the last Cocktail recipe unlocked.
Grounded 1.1.0 — Dec. 8, 2022
Obsidian Entertainment released patch 1.1 for Grounded to coincide with the Holiday Treat update and to celebrate 15 million players. Here's the full changelog.
Crash fixes
- Fixed a crash that could occur when a creature performed a charge attack through clovers or grass.
- Fixed a random crash that could happen while generating navigation data for creatures.
Major fixes
- Ants no longer gather excessive amounts of food in ant hills. They will stop when they feel they have a sufficient amount to feed themselves.
- Creatures should no longer get halfway stuck in the ground.
- BURG.L should no longer randomly go missing.
- If the audio log in the Haze Lab was missing on older saves and was never collected, it will show up now.
- Creatures will properly lose aggro after incapacitating a player instead of immediately retargeting them on revive regardless of where they are.
Other fixes
- Creatures in the Sandbox no longer get stuck on cocktail umbrellas.
- Fixed some spots in the Mantis arena that the player was not supposed to be able to get to.
- Players can no longer trigger emote animations while attacking.
- Fixed a handful of world terrain visual issues.
- Music changes from entering a new biome will transition more cleanly.
- Various small audio fixes for sounds that weren't playing or were playing incorrectly.
- Ladybugs will properly aggro players when hit by thrown two-handed weapons.
- Fixed memory leak in the Mantis boss fight.
- The Resource Scanner will no longer hitch when opened with a lot of items unlocked.
- Usernames with leading numbers will no longer become scrambled in certain contexts when playing in Arabic.
- Read To Me will no longer read conversation lines that are already voiced.
- The player can no longer connect ziplines to inappropriately angled target anchors.
- Fixed the Pond Biodome POI sometimes not unlocking.
- Sap Catchers can no longer be built on Fresh Storage.
- The game will no longer slow down when the player rapidly scrolls through building radial pages.
- Wall-mounted buildings can no longer be placed on turrets.
- Wall-mounted buildings can no longer be placed on stuffed flying creatures.
- Pets will no longer trigger inappropriate banter dialogue when player characters see them.
- Zipped haulable items will no longer float away when they contact a character.
- The player will no longer enter first-person perspective while zipping in some rare cases.
- The player will be correctly restored to their desired perspective after freeing themselves from multiple spider webs.
- Black Widow will no longer jump abnormally high.
- Thistle needles will no longer respawn immediately after loading a saved game.
- If a player disconnects while on a ladder, the ladder can now be recycled.
- Ingredients dropped from destroyed stuffed bees and gnats can now be picked up.
- A slight rebalance to the encounters in the Pond Lab has been made. Encounters with Taz.Ts and Arc.Rs will properly increase in difficulty as you progress deeper into the lab.
Grounded 1.0.4 — Oct. 21, 2022
Another post-launch update. Full changelog from Obsidian Entertainment.
General changes
- Creature Cards in the data tab are now sorted by creature tier
- The Game Report Card no longer requires Mutations to be unlocked for 100% completion as at least 1 mutation requires Multiplayer to unlock
Crafting balance changes
- All flavored arrows now craft in stacks of 10 for 1 piece of candy / salt
- Gas and Super Gas arrows now craft in stacks of 5 for 1 gas / super gas sack
- Super Venom Arrows now craft in stacks of 10 for 1 super venom gland
Creature balance changes
- Spiders are no longer immune to poison, and instead have 25-90% poison resistance depending on species / tier
- Black Widow being the exception, which is still fully immune to poison
- Black Widow no longer immune to Venom
- Increased the Mant's phase based damage reduction by 20%
- The Mantis is now easier to stun
Item balance changes
- Tick Macuahuitl damage reduced by 15%
- Widow Dagger damage reduced by 10%
- Base damage of most poison effects (player and enemy) reduced by about 10%
- Broodmother Club's Apex Predator effect now applies venom instead of poison (so it bypasses immunities and resistances)
- Mantis Scythe now costs 25% less stamina to swing
- Black Ox Armor's "Overbearing" effect proc chance with a full set upped from 30% to 80%
- Black Ox Armor set bonus now adds much more stun damage to melee charge attacks
- Prod Smacker damage increased by 50%
- Moth armor set "Ranged Cut" effect proc chance with a full set upped from 15% to 60%
- Moth armor set "Ranged Cut" effect rescaled from 10 damage per second for 10 seconds to 20 damage per second for 5 seconds
- Tripled the stun value of the Sour Battleaxe
- Bee Armor's "Bow Stun" effectiveness doubled
- Ladybird Shield's "Block Free Attack" now applies to all attacks for 5 seconds instead of clearing on the first attack after it triggers
- Compliance Badge base heal reduced from 10HP to 8HP
- Mantis Trinket now grants stamina on crit 100% of the time instead of 50% of the time
- Mantis Trinket stamina granted on crit increased from 20 to 50
Mutation balance changes
- Corporate Kickback's 100% lifesteal effect now works on all attacks for 5 seconds after activation, instead of just the first attack
- Natural Explorer movement speed increase changed from 3 / 6 / 10% to 20 / 35 / 50%
- Natural Explorer now gets disabled when fighting creatures
Crash fixes
- Fixed occasional crash that could occur when eating or drinking items
- Fixed crash that could occur while charging up a magic staff
- Fixed crash that could occur when opening up the Map screen
Major fixes
- The previously unobtainable "Mixing Rig" note has been placed in the yard now for pickup
- Game Report Card now checks for the correct number of SCA.B pickups and Yard data
- Clients who disconnect or save while incapacitated but not dead will no longer lose their equipment when they rejoin
Other fixes
- You will no longer always go up some ziplines when interacting with them
- In-progress drag-and-drop operations are canceled when you die to prevent item duplication
- Bomb arrows now properly deal damage when launched from a fully charged bow shot
- Bomb arrows now properly deal damage when under the effect of Quickdraw, the set bonus of the antlion armor set
- Waft Emitter rage bars properly fill up again
- Improved creature navigation issues around the trash biome
- Upgrading magic staves actually increases the damage done from them
Grounded 1.0.3 — Oct. 17, 2022
Full changelog from Obsidian Entertainment.
General changes
- Adjusted the audio for the Bounce Pad
Crash fixes
- Sorting large inventories with lots of items with stack sizes upgraded no longer crashes the game
- Improves performance of sort action as well
- Fixed random crash that could occur during gameplay
Bug fixes
- Night base music will play more appropriately for smaller bases
- Ziplines for clients will no longer have their positions occasionally become incorrect
- Ladybug and Ladybird now have distinctive names in other languages than English
