Before Lethal Company took over Steam, and before the likes of Labyrinthine, Escape the Backrooms, The Outlast Trials, Demonologist, GTFO, and Devour, Phasmophobia helped to define a new wave of co-op horror games on PC. Tense, frantic, and making impeccable use of positional audio to enhance the terror, the ghost-hunting game boasts a 96% Steam rating across over half a million user reviews. Now, developer Kinetic Games gives us another look at the next map coming, along with everything else lined up ahead of the game’s full 1.0 launch.
Among the changes from the last time we took a look at the Phasmophobia roadmap is the removal of predicted dates. Rather than loosely scheduling updates to quarters, the developer says it will focus on making sure each part is finished before it’s added to the horror game. However, some of the game’s key features, including new Phasmophobia map Point Hope, “will be pushed live as soon as they are ready, without the need to wait for a major update.”
We get a bit more of an in-depth look at Point Hope, too. “Not only does Point Hope feature a new visual theme,” Kinetic explains, “but it also offers a widely different gameplay experience, similar to the Campsites. As it’s a lighthouse, the rooms are circular and encompass a whole floor. This allows us to create several looping spots and plan hiding spots near or far from staircases, forcing players to make a quick decision while running from a paranormal attacker.”
The further you get towards the top of the lighthouse, the more cramped and densely packed the spaces become, which “makes for an intensely personal ghost room, not leaving much room for a breather without traversing a staircase.” Terrifying stuff. I’m already envisioning being trapped up on the highest floors, terrified of making my way down to safety because of what lies in the interim levels.
There are also two big reworks on the way for Bleasdale and Grafton. “Both farmhouses will receive a reasonably sized layout adjustment,” Kinetic says, “with a focus on making the buildings feel more authentic. This means fewer bedrooms and bathrooms, and more rooms with purpose for the family that may have lived there.”
Grafton is being turned into a more run-down location, with “floors, ceilings, and windows collapsing, furniture broken or covered in sheets ready to be packed, and dust and cobwebs covering every nook and cranny.” Bleasdale, meanwhile, goes the other way; Kinetic says, “We wanted to nudge it closer to the grand mansion-style house it had once been. Rooms will be ornate and cluttered with statues and expensive belongings.”
Elsewhere in the update, there are three updates planned for “2024 and beyond,” which are set to culminate with the big overhaul to ghost models, hunting, events, interactions, and hallucinations titled ‘Horror 2.0.’ Kinetic says this update “will be the last major milestone for the game and the one that takes us out of early access,” but notes, “This doesn’t mean development for the game will cease, as we’d still like to add more equipment, ghosts, and locations after 1.0 finally arrives.”
Looking for more games to jump into with pals? We’ve rounded up the best co-op games to play in 2024, and we’ve also got more of the best ghost games like Phasmophobia if you’re just after more supernatural spookies.
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