Grounded 2's Into the Abyss update is the survival game's second big influx of new additions following its early access launch in July 2025 — and it's a hefty one. Co-developers Obsidian and Eidos Montreal are filling out another big chunk of Grounded 2's map and, quite literally, going deeper. A giant pond is the new area, and all your adventures gradually lead you to its depths. Polygon attended a hands-off preview of the update this week and saw what the team has in store.

The map itself is one of the update's biggest changes — and that goes beyond just the pond and surrounding areas. Obsidian and Eidos stuck it onto the southern part of the park, where it adjoins Toxic Tangle's garden and what was formerly the edge of the Ice Cream Cart zone. Previously, you’ve had to progress through the main story to reach the garden, but with Into the Abyss, you can access the pond at any point in the game, even if you haven't tackled the events at the statue yet. It might be harder than you're expecting, but Obsidian rebalanced the game to make it possible.

A convenient upgrade to the pneumatic tube system also turns close to a dozen of those stations into fast travel points, so if you spend Raw Science to unlock them at ranger stations, you can instantly travel to any of the other unlocked tube stations, which is a welcome improvement. Trudging around on-foot everywhere really sells the "I'm as tiny as a bug" feel, but Grounded 2 is getting a bit big for that to not be an annoyance. The update also includes ziplines you can place to help make traveling from high ground to low less dangerous.

Alleviating annoyance also drove Obsidian and Eidos' decision to revamp O.R.C. raids. Previously, you'd have to fend off waves of remote-controlled bugs every three in-game days. After the update goes live, you'll have an aggro meter that increases when you attack O.R.C. bugs. The idea is that you get more control over when raids happen, and if you just really want more of them, there's a new option to repair mixer stations and trigger their raids again, too.

The real centerpiece is the pond area, though, and it's huge. You've got:

• The pond itself, and its considerable depths
• A dead oak tree on a small hill next to the pond
• A forest of melted candles
• The bridge, a swamp-like segment at the edge of the pond

All these spots have sub-locations and what Obsidian calls "adventure areas," which means points of interest with bosses, rare materials, or just neat things to find. Some of them are comparatively small, like a shed or a fallen trash can. Others are like mini-zones in themselves. As Obsidian walked along the Hot Wheels track that circles the dead oak tree's trunk, we could see little caves opening up in different spots, feeder tunnels leading into a much larger complex underneath. Like with Toxic Tangle, Obsidian and Eidos designed Into the Abyss with verticality in mind. Caves go deep, points of interest can be far overhead and require some strategy to reach, and the final area, the abyss itself, was designed with platforming challenges in mind.

The pond area has its share of new and returning enemies, too. Some are brand-new like the horrifying toe biter, based on the eponymous bug from marshy areas of the northeastern U.S. Like its real-life counterpart, Grounded 2's toe biter injects its prey with venom that slows it down; unlike the real bug, this one's venom slows you down with a chill effect, not an assault on your central nervous system. You'll get this one as a buggy, too, which is important for pond exploration. More on that shortly.

A handful of new bugs are upgraded versions of existing enemies elsewhere in the park, including wasps, mosquitos, scorpions, and the green shield bug, the latter of which is a souped-up stinkbug.

And some are making a return from the first Grounded, including the diving bell spider. They're less terrifying this time — no less aggressive, but with smaller health bars — thanks to a new weapon: the harpoon gun. It works a bit like a crossbow and helps soften foes before you move in for a final blow, and it functions nicely with the addition of lock-on option to focus on a single target.

Underwater areas were pretty annoying in the original Grounded, thanks to its murky depth filter and clunky movement. That's changed completely in Grounded 2. There's no filter, so you can see clearly until you start descending deeper, and you can move pretty much the same as you do on land. There's even a multi-directional dash you can use to scoot around faster or dodge incoming attacks. And your toe biter buggy just zooms through the water.

Underwater gear and maintaining your oxygen supply remain important, but Obsidian and Eidos added temperature changes, too. Your chill meter increases as you dive deeper, and the only way to safely explore the pond's bottom is by wearing the new diving suit. It's one of many new gear sets added, and it sports insulation plus an infinite oxygen supply.

That's good for exploration, but even more so for underwater building. You can plunk down full bases or crafting stations or anything you want underwater. The magic of science gives you a little air bubble around your bed and other important places, so you don't have to worry about running out of oxygen while you rest.

Grounded 2's Into the Abyss update goes live on Aug. 11 for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.