Phasmophobia’s Second Quality-of-Life Update Will Arrive on August 25

Kinetic Games will release Phasmophobia’s second Quality-of-Life update on August 25, 2026. The update will arrive across all platforms, although the exact release time has not been confirmed. The studio shared the feature breakdown in its official Steam announcement.

The update follows the July 21 pass that introduced the 13 Willow Street rework and the first QoL changes. Our 13 Willow Street rework coverage has more on that earlier release.

Three Phasmophobia maps will get Restricted versions

Prison, Brownstone High School, and Point Hope will each receive smaller Restricted variants. Like Sunny Meadows Restricted, these versions are meant to make investigations quicker without removing locations players already know.

Point Hope Restricted will be classed as a Small map and will allow access up to the Dining Room. Prison’s Restricted version will also be classed as Small, while Brownstone High School’s will be classed as Medium. The Prison and Brownstone variants will be randomly assigned when a contract loads.

Brownstone High School will have four map variants after the update. A small environmental decoration outside each Restricted version will identify which layout players have loaded into.

The Journal will make group investigations easier

Evidence collection is getting another pass, with new visual cues for Duplicate media. Tier 1 Photo Cameras will use a yellow LED, while Tier 2 and Tier 3 Photo Cameras and every Video Camera tier will show faded text instead of the usual bold white indicator. Tier 1 Sound Recorders will dim their volume indicators, and Tier 2 and Tier 3 Sound Recorders will show faded sound waves.

The Journal will also show each player’s selected Evidence and Ghost Type. That should cut down on the familiar truck-side check where everyone has to compare their choices before leaving.

The Keys section is being replaced by Items We’ve Found, which will record keys, the bone, and seasonal event collectibles in the order they were discovered. Ghost names will also show a ♀ or ♂ symbol to make male and female names and Ghost types easier to distinguish.

VR and Custom Difficulty changes are also coming

Kinetic Games will replace the VR character rig across all platforms. The new rig is intended to make movement respond more closely to a player’s body, match arm length more accurately, and improve how VR characters appear to other investigators. The studio also plans to address several recurring VR issues in the full release notes. Players can send feedback through the Kinetic Games Help Centre.

Custom Difficulty investigations will gain an option to choose the Ghost Type directly. Choosing a Ghost this way will set the multiplier to 0, so those investigations will not count toward progress such as achievements and leaflets.

Death animations are changing too. Dead players and their bodies will appear with greyer skin and misty eyes, while voice chat will cut out as soon as the death animation reaches the neck snap instead of waiting until the animation ends.

Kinetic Games said the complete bug-fix list will be shared when the update releases on August 25, 2026. The announced New and Changes entries are below.

Phasmophobia Quality of Life Part 2 Preview Notes

The largest additions cover Restricted map variants, Duplicate evidence indicators, shared Journal information, VR movement, Custom Difficulty settings, and several small investigation changes.

New

• Added new Restricted variants of the below maps.
• Prison (Restricted version is classed as a Small map)
• Brownstone High School (Restricted versions are classed as Medium maps)
• Point Hope (Restricted version is classed as a Small map)
• Video Cameras, Photo Cameras and Sound Recorders will now indicate Duplicate evidence.
• Tier 1 Photo Cameras will display a yellow LED light.
• Tier 2 & 3 Photo Cameras and all Tiers of Video Cameras will display faded text rather than the usual bold white text.
• Tier 1 Sound Recorder will lower the brightness of the Volume indicators.
• Tier 2 & 3 Sound Recorders will display faded sound waves.
• The Journal will now display other player selections of Evidence and Ghost Type.
• The Keys section in the Journal has been replaced with Items We’ve Found, this new section will show keys, the bone and seasonal event collectables.
• Added the ability to select the Ghost Type in a Custom Difficulty which will set the multiplier to 0.
• Added a new Legacy Badge section to the Customisation shop to allow you to edit your badge at any time.
• Players without a Legacy Badge will not see this option.
• Added a ‘Hold Use’ sticky note on the Training whiteboards.
• Dead players and dead player bodies will now look dead.
• Added unique video evidence text for shower and fuse box interactions.
• Added an icon to show whether a ghost name is male or female.

Changes

• When speaking, the speaker icon on ID cards will now function for all players, including local player
• Improvements have been made to the VR character rig, allowing for more accurate and responsive movement.
• Players can now interact with a Spirit Box that’s not held when using Text Voice Recognition Mode.
• Custom Difficulties with a 0 multiplier will no longer contribute towards any progress, such as achievements and leaflets.
• Pressing use while holding a lit Tier 1 Firelight will now use another, without having to wait for the animation to finish.
• When a player dies, their voice chat will now be cut out as soon as they die in the animation, rather than at the end.
• The Truck has been moved closer to the main entrance on Brownstone High School and Prison.
• The Journal automatically opens on the Evidence page if the player opens it when Dead for the first time.

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Phasmophobia

Developed by Kinetic Games

Phasmophobia is a cooperative horror investigation game played from a first-person perspective, supporting one to four players. Players take on the role of ghost hunters who must identify the type of ghost haunting a designated location by gathering evidence using various paranormal investigation equipment. The game features speech recognition, allowing ghosts and certain equipment to respond to words spoken by players. As investigators spend time at the site, their sanity decreases, eventually triggering hunts during which the ghost actively pursues and can kill players. The game includes multiple location types of varying size, twenty-nine ghost types each with unique behaviors and evidence, and a progression system where players earn money to unlock and upgrade equipment. Virtual reality is optionally supported.

• Genre Puzzle, Tactical, Indie
• Platforms Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation VR2, Windows Mixed Reality, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Microsoft Windows), SteamVR, PlayStation 5, Oculus Rift
• Perspective First person, Auditory, Virtual Reality
• Modes Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
• Release September 18, 2020
• Publisher Kinetic Games
• Age Rating

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