Obsidian has famously been caught up in the recent Xbox reset, with the game studio losing as much as 25% of its staff to layoffs. According to recent insider reports out of Bloomberg, one of the consequences of the headcount reduction appears to be a narrower focus, which in this case has resulted in the effective cancellation of Avowed 2. The publication's sources say that the studio made the decision to cancel Avowed 2 due to the lackluster commercial performance of the first game in the series. The studio had previously hoped to build the Avowed franchise by rapidly developing the game's sequel on top of tech it already had.

In lieu of Avowed 2 and the other canceled projects, Obsidian will now begin development on a new Fallout game led by Josh Sawyer, who previously worked on Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas, which would go on to become a fan-favorite Fallout game. The success of New Vegas is likely the reason that Sawyer and Obsidian have been tasked with developing another Fallout game, and insiders claim that Sawyer had been working on a separate game that was structurally and thematically similar to Fallout.

Eidos Montréal has reportedly going through another round of layoffs. Insider Gaming says at least a dozen employees were let go recently, with several confirming their departures on LinkedIn. The studio already faced major cuts earlier this year under Embracer Group, following roughly 75 layoffs in 2024 and nearly 100 in 2023 alongside the cancellation of its in-development Deus Ex project. According to the report, most of Eidos Montréal's active projects have now been cancelled. The studio is now focused on supporting Xbox teams (Obsidian and Playground Games) on Grounded 2 and the upcoming Fable reboot. Insider Gaming also mentions one remaining internal project that began back in 2019, but it's not expected to recover its development costs. More layoffs are said to happen once Eidos finishes its contracted support work.

The news marks another difficult chapter for the Canadian studio, which built its reputation on titles like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Mankind Divided, and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. The team also co-developed several Tomb Raider games with Crystal Dynamics. Even with a portfolio full of successful AAA games, the studio has long struggled with publisher instability, first under Square Enix and now under Embracer. The cancellation of the Deus Ex revival last year hit fans especially hard, leaving the franchise untouched since 2016. At the time, Adam Jensen's voice actor, Elias Toufexis, posted a public tribute to the studio, expressing hope for the series' future. With today's news, that future looks more uncertain than ever.

August brings new levels of gaming excitement on GeForce NOW, with 2,300 titles now available to stream in the cloud. Grab a controller and get ready for epic adventures - a dozen new games are coming to the cloud this month. Each week brings fresh titles for members to discover, stream and conquer. Get ready to shrink down for big fun - early access for Grounded 2, announced as a surprise in June at XBOX Games Showcase, will be available to stream on day one: tomorrow, Aug. 1. Plus, finish off July with the eight games available to stream this week, alongside the latest update for the acclaimed open-world action role-playing game Genshin Impact.

The Park Is Calling
Step into the wild, unpredictable world of Brookhollow Park - Grounded 2 is launching in early access in the cloud, and the backyard has never felt bigger or more alive. Shrink to the size of an ant, navigate towering blades of grass, uncover hidden secrets and face off against bugs that can be friend or foe. Craft weapons and armor from scavenged materials, build creative bases and raise Buggie companions to help explore and survive. Whether playing solo or with friends, every day brings new challenges and surprises. Grounded 2's quirky humor and inventive gameplay make every moment an adventure, from dodging predators to racing Buggies through underground tunnels.

Grounded 2 only just launched to Steam Early Access, and it has already broken its predecessor's record for concurrent Steam players. According to SteamDB, Grounded 2 has already attracted an all-time peak player count of 49,836 players, and that was a mere two hours after the game went live on Steam. That's compared to the original Grounded, which peaked at 32,012 players a year after it launched in Early Access. Since the launch Grounded 2 has plateaued somewhat, settling at around the 33,000-player mark, however, the game launched at the start of the week, and player counts tend to pick up around the first weekend after launch. It would not be surprising to see more players pick up Grounded 2 on its first weekend after launch, since the first game was quite successful over its five-year run. The launch of Grounded 2 resulted in a noticeable uptick in player counts for the original survival adventure game, to boot.

Grounded 2 builds on the premise of the first game, shrinking the protagonist down even smaller than before, revisiting the base-building and exploration mechanics in a larger open world with fresh twists, like insect breeding, new threats, and new challenges. Grounded 2 currently costs $29.99, and those who have played the new game and reviewed it on Steam have been impressed for the most part. The game currently has a 73% Positive Steam review rating from a total of 1,385 reviews. Grounded 2 is still in Early Access, and it will likely be for a while—the original Grounded game only exited Early Access over two years after its initial release. The launch price also saw a $10 increase when Grounded exited Early Access, so the same may be true for the sequel.