I do know. I am unable to consider it, both. Phasmophobia’s long-teased, much-anticipated Player Character replace is nearly right here. Cheerio, flexible backs. So lengthy, restricted rotation of slack, perma-stunned faces. From Could 5, and for the primary time ever, Phasmophobia gamers will have the ability to customise their ghosthunters in a “much-needed” replace.
“They will match the brand new environments that we have been making — that is an enormous factor. There will be customization, so gamers will have the ability to choose what garments they’re carrying,” Corey Dixon, artwork director at Kinetic Video games, informed IGN. “And there are some customizations for the characters themselves, like hair shade, as a result of they’re folks. They don’t seem to be soulless anymore. We’re not letting you modify all the things, however there are some choices that ought to hopefully convey new life to video games, as a result of fairly often you’d see three of the identical man working round. Now, should you’re all enjoying as the identical man, your hair shade may be completely different, your jackets, your T-shirts, your trousers, or no matter.
“There’s going to be all-new animations all over the place. So all the things’s extra immersive. You not simply have this floating hand. You are going to have a shadow! It is all a part of that immersive expertise, is not it? It is a huge polish replace, successfully, however there are some enjoyable issues that include it, like new loss of life animations. So we have changed the basic Phas strangulation, [it] has been polished up and refreshed in step with the brand new animations. After which there’s a few further issues as effectively, which, you already know, we wish to depart a shock for when gamers get there.”
Dixon mentioned this types a part of “some much-needed love” to match the characters with “the opposite stuff we have been altering.” However that may imply the top of a Phasmophobia secure — the flexible backs.
“Sadly, we’re eradicating the flexible backs. It will likely be missed,” he laughed. (I did ask, however no, it appears there aren’t any plans to maintain them as a secret unlockable Easter egg for us. Dixon joked that we may see the formation of a brand new group of followers known as The Cult of the Flexible Backs rise in defiance.) “[But we’re] including some narrative to the characters. Earlier than, they have been anonymous, simply our bodies. Now there’s truly a purpose for them to be there, telling the gamers what, who they’re.”
It is these previous few phrases that intrigue me most. Certain, it will be nice to have the ability to customise our gamers with the higher number of hairstyles, garments, and equipment — all of which include “reimagined” ghosthunters that boast new animations and actions — but it surely’s who these individuals are that I am determined to know extra about. In any case, we have spent the final six years with them, cowering in corners and leaping at shadows – it is hardly shocking that we wish to know extra about them.
“Phasmophobia has actually nice groundwork for the world itself being actually fascinating to discover,” mentioned Kinetic’s senior narrative designer Ana Dukakis. “And one of many first avenues that we checked out was the participant characters. What sort of particular person results in that type of job, you already know? Why have they chosen to do this? That was the start line. And, clearly, attending to work with the artwork crew and seeing all of the actually cool redesigns and stuff that Corey was sharing… That additionally impressed a great deal of concepts for who these characters might be, how they received right here. Gamers will get a bit little bit of a small window into who these individuals are and stuff, and why they’re right here, and the way they did that work.”
It is right here that Dukakis’ affect can be most noticeable, I believe. The artwork crew could also be fleshing the characters out bodily, but it surely’s Dukakis who’s engaged on that metaphorically.
“Phasmophobia has a extremely sturdy core loop,” she added. “Off the bat, it is a enjoyable sport to play, and the environment is already there. It is tremendous spooky. It is eerie. And I felt like there’s already a way within the sport that there is type of extra happening beneath the floor. As [Dixon] was saying, as maps and various things have been reworked, I believe the crew has already accomplished actually nice work, organically constructing lore into these locations. Eager about, like, who lived in these locations earlier than? What sort of lives did they lead? It has been actually enjoyable to have the ability to construct on high of that.
“There are a variety of open questions which are opened by the design of the sport. Who is that this firm, GHD? What’s their objective? Precisely who’re these folks working for them? [It’s been fun] constructing round that to type of enrich the sport that already exists is, sure, it is only a actually enjoyable problem.”
All cosmetics can be unlocked by way of gameplay challenges or bought by way of the brand new in-game retailer with in-game forex. We noticed the embryonic system throughout the latest Cursed Hole occasion, as gamers who stopped by to finish its limited-time missions unlocked entry to a brand new necklace, t-shirt, and the Forest Spirit Masks, giving us our first peek at what sort of cosmetics can be accessible.
Apparently, although, there aren’t any microtransactions or premium cosmetics. I will admit that that surprises me; Phasmophobia launched into early entry in 2020, and whereas it isn’t free to obtain, the sport’s mechanics, places, ghosts, and ghost-hunting tools have all been expanded and improved over time with out extra price. However I am informed “the sport’s nonetheless promoting very well,” which is probably why there’s at the moment no need to lock cosmetics behind paywalls.
“Someday, there could be a state of affairs the place it is one thing we would look into doing, however in the meanwhile, there is not any purpose to,” Dixon mentioned. “As players ourselves, we gamers like incomes stuff, so why not simply let gamers earn as a lot as attainable? Some [cosmetics] can be accessible right away. Some stuff can be locked behind our leveling and status system, after which some stuff’s locked behind in-game cash. So you possibly can simply spend your in-game money on one thing else [other than equipment], as a result of Phas has by no means actually had a cash sink, I suppose. However now there’s one other factor that gamers can type of save up for and unlock, which is cool.”
That is additionally why new maps — each authentic and reworked — have not been locked away behind paywalls, both. Dixon mentioned suggestions to the most recent up to date map, Tanglewood, has been “actually constructive,” however admitted transforming that fan-favorite map was “the scariest one” but. “It has been actually good to see folks beginning to belief the method now and belief us as a crew,” he defined. “We love the sport as a lot as they do. We’re not gonna utterly change it, we simply need it to really feel like [reworked/new maps like] Bleasedale [Farmhouse] and Grafton [Farmhouse] and the Diner and simply, you already know, convey it as much as the identical normal as all the things else.
“It is type of the poster baby for Phas,” he continued. “It was the duvet artwork on Steam since day one. So, clearly, after we reworked it, we knew that gamers have been both gonna adore it or hate it. There wasn’t going to be an in-between. I believe the one negatives we actually noticed have been round what we confirmed early, as a result of we solely confirmed the huge adjustments, and we did not present something staying the identical. I believe that scared a variety of gamers, however then it nearly benefited us when the replace got here out, they usually have been like, ‘Oh God, it is truly the identical, it is simply two or three issues which are completely different, but it surely’s higher.’ We have been over the moon with the suggestions, and all of us adore it as a crew.”
And sure, there will be extra “narrative stuff” coming with the eagerly-awaited 1.0 replace, with the participant replace “slowly laying a little bit of the background” behind the lore being retconned into the ghost-hunting sim.
“We do not wish to spoon-feed the story to folks, however for the eagle-eyed gamers, [they can] begin piecing collectively a bit bit extra about GHD as an organization, and what, possibly, they’re working in the direction of,” Dukakis teased. “I believe there will be some enjoyable theories popping out of that stuff, which I am trying ahead to. I believe 1.0 there’s going to be a great deal of actually cool stuff, and for the lore aspect of issues, there will be a variety of good updates there, too, that may construct on what we have got right here within the participant character [update].
“We actually wish to be aware to not overshadow the principle focus of the course of the sport, which is looking and the expertise of enjoying that with your pals or different folks, being immersed in that spooky atmosphere. We did not need the backstory to overshadow that, however we needed to drip feed it over time, in order that gamers who’re can search for it. The small print which are there for those who wish to dig deeper, but it surely does not encroach on the gameplay in any method.”
And it goes even additional than that, too. Why is it, precisely, that it is these places which are haunted? What brings them collectively? Dukakis teased that there is been “a variety of pondering” about that. Count on extra refined particulars as issues come out “step by step over time.”
As for what’s subsequent for the Phasmophobia crew? Kinetic has hinted there’s extra to come back, together with the brand new loss of life, revival, and EMF reader animations that have been beforehand teased in Phasmophobia’s 2026 roadmap, There’s additionally an Unity Engine replace on the playing cards, which’ll convey “a great deal of efficiency stuff, visuals, and a few networking issues.” The massive one, although, is the 1.0 replace, which is when the sport lastly exits early entry.
“[That’s] the one which all the gamers — and us! — have been ready for without end,” Dixon laughed.
Phasmophobia’s Player Character Update rolls out from Could 5 throughout all platforms (PC, PS5, PS VR2, and Xbox Sequence X/S).
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, in addition to a critic, columnist, and guide with 15+ years expertise working with a few of the world’s greatest gaming websites and publications. She’s additionally a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually Excessive Chaos. Discover her at BlueSky.