Welcome back, Ghost Hunters.
Over the last month and a half, we’ve been reading the discussions about Phasmophobia across so many different channels and taking note of the biggest issues, points of concern, questions and more. We are sorry it’s taken a while to respond, but we wanted to make sure that when we did, we had something of substance for you. Hopefully today, with our updated Roadmap and information on what’s to come to Phasmophobia, we can start to build back your trust and have meaningful conversations around the game we all care so deeply about.
We’ll go in to more detail on everything in this blog, but for those of you that would rather just have the headlines, here we go:
The rework of 13 Willow Street will launch July 21st, 2026 alongside a Quality of Life update.
A further Quality of Life update will launch in August 2026.
Our upgrade to Unity 6 will take place in October 2026.
An additional Player Character update will launch in November, bringing with it improved animations, character models, UI, more clothing and customisation options.
Phasmophobia 1.0, as well as our next new map, will now launch in 2027.
A New Roadmap
Over the last month, we’ve taken a look at our plans for 2026 and made important decisions and changes to make sure we get things right. Phasmophobia’s new Roadmap, which can be seen below, focuses on bringing the game back in-line with our vision and one that we hope reignites your passion for it.
With a focus on quality of life over new content, our various updates will bring with them hundreds of fixes - starting with our first update in July - as well as bringing the game up- to-date with Unity 6. Our second Player Character update will improve and redo areas such as the animations, character models, UI and introduce a host of new customisation options.
Alongside these various updates, you can expect to see more regular Development Previews that’ll take you deeper into what they’ll contain and the improvements they’ll bring to Phasmophobia.
You may notice that a few things have been removed from the Roadmap for 2026, such as Phasmophobia 1.0 and our new map. While we’ll talk more about the 1.0 delay further down in this blog, we want to reassure you that a new map will be coming to Phasmophobia, just a little later than planned.
For now, let’s go into a little detail on the first update - bringing with it the reworked 13 Willow Street.
Willow Update
Our 13 Willow Street Rework update will launch on 21st July, 2026, bringing with it the reworked map and the first of our Quality of Life updates.
Before we get into the second part, let’s take a look at the new 13 Willow Street.
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[/carousel]As with our rework on 6 Tanglewood Drive, this new version of 13 Willow Street retains an almost identical layout to the location currently in-game but features redesigned rooms, new theming and plenty of new interactions and objects to discover. 13 Willow Street will continue our approach to storytelling in Phasmophobia too, with a story waiting to be pieced together. We can’t wait to hear your theories and thoughts.
Quality of Life Updates
Our Quality of Life updates this year will focus on bug fixes, gameplay improvements and the overall stability and playability of the game. Due to the hundreds of bug fixes, changes and new features currently planned for release, we will be releasing two separate Quality of Life updates - the first with the Willow launch and the second in August 2026.
These updates have been built off the back of the feedback we’ve received since the launch of the Player Character Update, as well as changes we’ve wanted to implement for a long time. We’ll provide full patch notes and details at release of the updates, but here’s a few details on some of the improvements:
New keybinds for pressing 1,2,3 and 4 for the individual inventory slots for keyboard and mouse only.
FOV adjustments for held items to increase item visibility.
Eye Adaptation option for console players.
Moving the Truck closer to map entrances on Prison and Brownstone High School.
Restricted map variants for Point Hope, Brownstone High School and Prison.
VR improvements; equipment usability changes, belt improvements, character movement and more.
The legacy badge screen will be available in the customisation shop to allow you to customise it whenever you want to.
The collected bone will show in the Journal.
The ghost type can be selected as a custom difficulty option.
The zoom feature in the Customisation Shop will now zoom in on the selected area.
Ability to raise the Watch while carrying equipment.
Improvements to character animations; leg movements, appearance changes when dead.
Equipment switching animation speed increases including making opening and closing the journal almost instant.
Improvements to photo detection as well as showing an indicator for what you are taking a photo of, similar to video cameras.
Equipment can be instantly used, allowing the animation to be skipped.
These two Quality of Life updates will address most of the issues players are encountering, and aim for them to drastically improve the state of Phasmophobia. Other planned updates, such as our move to Unity 6 later in the year, will further improve the stability and performance of the game.
Phasmophobia 1.0 Launches 2027
Earlier this year, we committed to launching Phasmophobia 1.0 at the end of 2026. Now, following a review of our plans and internal processes, we’re making the decision to move the release of 1.0 to the second half of 2027. The game will be coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 at the same time too.
We know this will come as a disappointment to many, but this is the right decision to ensure we deliver the 1.0 version of Phasmophobia that is true to our vision, high quality standards and provides the experience for players that we’ve always wanted to achieve.
We’re not going to stay quiet though. Beginning in 2027 we’ll be bringing you with us during development through regular streams and other means; showcasing our work, sharing some of the secrets of Phasmophobia 1.0 and much more. While we won’t spoil all of the surprises, we want to be as visible as possible for you, hopefully rebuilding the trust that we’ve understandably lost this year.
That said, let’s not wait until the new year to share something.
Below is our first look at the improved model for Patient 07, a fan-favourite who - along with all of our ghost models - is getting a much needed glow up in 1.0.
All of our ghost models will be given a new lease of life(?) with this visual upgrade, but will also be providing their own unique experiences for players. What that entails exactly is something we’ll go into more detail with down the line, but we look forward to sharing that with you when we’re ready to.
Another aspect of 1.0 we want to reveal today is the introduction of Conduits. Replacing the Bone as a collectable during each contract, these are unique items paired with a particular ghost model.
A Conduit is an item that ties a ghost to our world, preventing them from moving on. These items will provide new lore to the ghost and the overall world of Phasmophobia.
Perhaps you can piece together some tidbits already?
Rest of the Year
We’ve focused on some of this year’s major updates for Phasmophobia, but as you can see, the Roadmap features more than just these. Following on from our two Quality of Life updates, we’ll be making the jump up to Unity 6 in October.
This Unity 6 update will provide some crucial stability updates as well as a brand new lighting system for Phasmophobia. We’ll also be implementing further accessibility options such as preferences for colour blind players as well as further quality of life improvements and bug fixes. We’ll dive deeper into these changes in a Development Preview later this year, so please do keep an eye out for that.
Our second Player Character update will arrive in November, bringing with it brand new customisation options and cosmetics, an improved Shop UI as well as new animations and graphical improvements for our character models in-game, giving each character much more life and personality than is currently available.
Elsewhere, we’ll see the return of Crimson Eye and Winter’s Jest (sans leaderboards) as well as our third map rework of the year, 42 Edgefield Road. Finally, we’re also planning one extra content update for the game later in 2026 that’ll bring with it changes to our Weekly Challenges ,new Voice Recognition features and more. We will share details on all of our updates when the time is right.
Moving Phasmophobia 1.0 to 2027 allows us the time and resources to get it to the high standard that you all deserve and to rebuild the relationship between Kinetic Games and you, our community. While the news of delays is never a good thing, we do hope that the information we’ve shared with you today helps you understand our decision.
We’re sorry for how Phasmophobia was left following our last update, and we understand your frustration. The Player Character Update did not meet the standards we set for ourselves or the expectations you have for the game. Our next update is the first step in a new direction, and we look forward to sharing it with you on July 21st.
Thank you, Ghost Hunters, for your time reading this blog, your passion and support for Phasmophobia and so much more.
