Phasmophobia is gearing up for its horror rework and full launch this year. Learn more about what awaits players in their 2026 Roadmap here.
Phasmophobia Enters New Phase of Development
Journey to Phasmophobia 1.0
Phasmophobia just unveiled its 2026 roadmap on January 29, showcasing promises of major updates, maps, and events. The hit ghost-hunting game is renaming its earlier "Horror 2.0" rework to "Phasmophobia 1.0." According to developer Kinetic Games, all updates planned for 2026 will culminate in the long-awaited full launch of Phasmophobia 1.0.
On December 25, 2025, their Development Preview #21 teased that the horror revamp in progress "will be the meatiest part of the 1.0 release and will give even the most seasoned Ghost Hunter a host of new scares and surprises." Aside from that, for now, the developers have omitted additional details about Phasmophobia 1.0 and will only shed more light on it as they get closer to its launch window.
Nevertheless, several updates are scheduled in the lead-up to Phasmophobia 1.0. Firstly, a visual revamp is in store for the game. The player model update will go live in Q1 2026, after being delayed from its original late 2025 release. Aside from an overhaul with the visuals and animations, players will also get to customize their Ghost Hunter character using the free cosmetics available.
Other upcoming additions to Phasmophobia this year will include a new map and a limited-time event. However, aside from sharing that the map will bring "a new style of location to the game," further details on the new content have yet to be revealed.
Map Rework, Events, and More
Kinetic Games is also reworking older Phasmophobia maps. The house in 6 Tanglewood Drive will be the first redesign, with a launch scheduled in early 2026. The second map, 13 Willow Street, is scheduled to arrive later this year.
"Our aim with our map reworks is always to retain everything we all love about these maps but bring them in line with our overall vision for Phasmophobia," the post on their website reads, "which we believe we achieved with last year’s reworks and are set to with these."
In-game community events are expected to come back around the same time as last year. Cursed Hollow will parallel Easter in April, Crimson Eye is the Halloween event in late October, and Winter's Jest is the holiday event in December.
Other changes slated for 2026 include bringing Phasmophobia to Unity 6, a netcode update to ease game state synchronization across players and servers, and a Nintendo Switch launch.
Nell's Diner Inspires Newer, Fresher Maps
As Kinetic Games moves toward the much-anticipated 1.0 launch, Phasmophobia art director Corey Dixon told GameSpot last November that they also have to put in the effort to overhaul the game's visual identity and replace its generic assets. Given that the game was at first developed by a single person, Daniel Knight, whose background was in programming, art direction was initially a mere afterthought.
According to Dixon, the map of Nell's Diner signalled a turning point for their redirection with graphics. Released in November 2025, Nell's Diner featured a roadside diner location characterized by fresh visual assets, interactive elements, and hidden Easter eggs. Kinetic Games said that the new, unnamed map launching this year will adhere to the precedent set by Nell's Diner.
Phasmophobia launched in September 2020 on PC via Steam's Early Access, and arrived on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on October 28, 2024. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the ghost-hunting game quickly rose to mainstream prominence—especially among streamers and YouTubers—and earned the Best Debut Game distinction at The Game Awards 2020.
Kinetic Games is setting plans in motion for Phasmophobia's full 1.0 release sometime in 2026. To stay up to date with the latest information about the game, check out our article below.
Source:
Phasmophobia's Roadmap for 2026
Phasmophobia - Development Preview #21
Phasmophobia's Next Map, Nell's Diner, Hints At The Game's Exciting Future
