In late 2020, Kinetic Games’ horror game Phasmophobia became a breakout hit online for its take on the “ghost hunting” genre. Since early access began, the developers have spared no effort with frequent updates and fixes to enhance players’ experience. The team released a roadmap detailing new content and significant reworks to Phasmophobia’s base mechanics for the upcoming year. These changes add new maps, character models, and gameplay features that will undoubtedly help players. Here is a breakdown of why fans should be excited.

Phasmophobia’s Latest Update

According to an update from Phasmophobia’s site, Kinetic Games released a roadmap for the game’s future. The biggest update will be the “Chronicling” feature. As the game revolves around cataloging ghost encounters, efficiently cataloging your findings is vital. This will add a realistic media tab to keep track of photos, videos, and audio recordings. The next big change is upgrading the player characters by improving their models and animations for upcoming customization mechanics.

Next, the developers will overhaul the roster of available maps. In addition to a small new map they’re keeping a secret, they will update the visuals and assets of several preexisting maps, such as Bleasdale Farmhouse and Grafton Farmhouse. Finally, Kinetic announced several holiday updates for Easter, Halloween, and Christmas later in the year, the last of which will bring the folkloric Krampus back into the game. Finally, they confirmed these changes were tentative, and many more would come.

A New Horror Classic

While the survival horror genre has always been popular for its suspense and atmosphere, indie games have vastly improved the formula with their greater room for experimentation. In 2020, British studio Kinetic Games tossed their hat into the ring with Phasmophobia. The game follows either a single ghost hunter or a group of four delving into a haunted area to investigate paranormal activity. Players use their microphones to communicate, something the ghosts can hear.

Despite its small production values, gamers and streamers fell in love with the game. Many appreciate the game’s use of atmosphere and creativity in its scares. Furthermore, its multiplayer formula managed to keep the scares while removing the isolation. As shown by its online popularity, influencers and their audience saw just as much enjoyment from the game as watching others fall victim to the supernatural. As a result of its skilled design, the game earned 20 million Steam players.

Keeping the Scares Fresh

As impressive as Phasmophobia was on release, Kinetic knew their game had a long road ahead to its complete form. While the game saw its early access release in 2020, the crew spent the time since tweaking and updating it for a broader release on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Additionally, the developers fully knew how VR would add to the game and implemented it as soon as possible.

Furthermore, these updates are a good example of how to do a “live-service” game right. All too often, AAA developers will use battle passes and limited-time cosmetics to keep players paying without adding much to the game’s content. However, as shown by their updates to archiving media, Kinetic Games has made it clear they intend to listen to their fans and will ensure their game is kept in its best shape while never getting stale.

Conclusion

When it was first released five years ago, Phasmophobia became a cult classic with its ominous atmosphere and clever use of multiplayer mechanics. Through this new 2025 roadmap, Kinetic Games reminded its fans that it values their experiences with the game and wants to maintain that level of originality and quality through new maps and characters. With so many games in the horror genre chasing overdone trends or relying too much on jumpscares, it’s nice to see a game like Phasmophobia that goes back to the basics of why players love a good scare. Hopefully, more companies will learn from these humble creatives.