Yesterday during the Inside Xbox showcase developer Obsidian Entertainment showed off new footage and details about their upcoming project Grounded including its release date.Grounded is a new survival adventure game where humans are shrunk down to size having to fight off against nasty bugs and insects including spiders. Following the new information, Obsidian went to Twitter to explain to a prospective player that for those who have a fear of spiders will be able to play a version of the game without them that is simply known as of now as “Arachnophobia Mode.”
Obsidian followed up by saying that “There is still research being done as to what it will finally do. Once we’re ready to show it off, we will!” so there is currently no telling whether or not this mode will be available Day 1 or added to the game later on.
This is personally the best news I’ve heard in a very long time when it comes to accessibility in video games. I’ve written here before about my own dealing with arachnophobia in video games so it is incredibly great seeing big developers like Obsidian taking the initiative in making this kind of option a reality. Before today, I had very little interest in playing Grounded even if there weren’t spiders in the game, but after hearing today’s news I’m going to jump in when the mode is available just to show my appreciation for what is being done here. I hope this becomes an ongoing trend moving forward. Arachnophobia is such a common fear that having the ability to remove them from a game that is officially done by the developer is a sight to behold.
