Grounded (opens in new tab), the game that gave rise to the phrase “asshole ants (opens in new tab),” is headed to the small screen—and yes, that is a pun, thank you. According to a Deadline (opens in new tab) report, the game is being adapted into a television series by Star Wars: Clone Wars writer Brent Friedman. Brien Goodrich, who previously served as cinematics director on Halo 4 and 5, is signed to direct the show.
It’s not clear how closely the show will cleave to the game, but it will follow the same basic premise: Four friends end up accidentally shrunk to bug size and must learn how to survive in a backyard that’s suddenly crawling with massive, deadly predators. But the real problem, apparently, is a “vast corporate conspiracy” that’s threatening the entire town. (And that, I bet, has something to do with how the kids ended up tiny-sized in the first place.)
Of course, shrunken children isn’t the most original premise ever—the “cornerstone” of Grounded, as Fraser said in his blood-soaked 2020 preview (opens in new tab), is Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (opens in new tab), the 1989 hit film starring Rick Moranis. And in fact that ended up being made into a television show too, called Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, which aired for three seasons from 1997-99.
Grounded comes at it from a different perspective—you’re not watching, you’re doing—and it’s quite good, holding a “very positive” rating across more than 25,000 user reviews on Steam, although it remains to be seen whether it will translate that well to television.
“Grounded has caught the imagination of millions of people and we’ve learned that the biggest fans want even more of that world,” game director Adam Brennecke said in a statement email to PC Gamer. “This partnership will allow us to give fans more Grounded while expanding the world that so many have come to love.”
Ironically, while Grounded is enough of a hit to warrant a TV show, it’s not technically released yet: That’s not set to happen until September. For now, it remains in early access on Steam (opens in new tab) and the Microsoft Store (opens in new tab).
