Phasmophobia Team Talks Character Update, Lore, Cosmetics, And Taking On The 'Cult of the Bendy Back'

I know. I can't judge it, either. Phasmophobia's long-teased, much-anticipated Player Character update is astir here. Cheerio, bendy backs. So long, constricted rotation of slack, perma-stunned faces. From May 5, and for the archetypal clip ever, Phasmophobia players volition beryllium capable to customize their ghosthunters successful a "much-needed" update.

"They'll lucifer the caller environments that we've been making — that's a immense thing. There'll beryllium customization, truthful players volition beryllium capable to prime what apparel they're wearing," Corey Dixon, creation manager astatine Kinetic Games, told IGN. "And determination are immoderate customizations for the characters themselves, similar hairsbreadth color, due to the fact that they are people. They're not soulless anymore. We're not letting you alteration everything, but determination are immoderate options that should hopefully bring caller beingness to games, due to the fact that precise often you'd spot 3 of the aforesaid feline moving around. Now, if you're each playing arsenic the aforesaid guy, your hairsbreadth colour tin beryllium different, your jackets, your T-shirts, your trousers, oregon whatever.

"There's going to beryllium all-new animations everywhere. So everything's much immersive. You nary longer conscionable person this floating hand. You're going to person a shadow! It's each portion of that immersive experience, isn't it? It's a large polish update, effectively, but determination are immoderate amusive things that travel with it, similar caller decease animations. So we've replaced the classical Phas strangulation, [it] has been polished up and refreshed successful enactment with the caller animations. And past there's a mates of other things arsenic well, which, you know, we privation to permission a astonishment for erstwhile players get there."

Dixon said this forms portion of "some much-needed love" to lucifer the characters with "the different worldly we've been changing." But that volition mean the extremity of a Phasmophobia unchangeable — the bendy backs.

"Sadly, we're removing the bendy backs. It volition beryllium missed," helium laughed. (I did ask, but no, it seems determination are nary plans to support them arsenic a concealed unlockable Easter ovum for us. Dixon joked that we could spot the enactment of a caller assemblage of fans called The Cult of the Bendy Backs emergence successful defiance.) "[But we're] adding immoderate communicative to the characters. Before, they were nameless, conscionable bodies. Now there's really a crushed for them to beryllium there, telling the players what, who they are."

It's those past fewer words that intrigue maine most. Sure, it'll beryllium large to beryllium capable to customize our players with the greater assortment of hairstyles, clothes, and accessories — each of which travel with "reimagined" ghosthunters that boast caller animations and movements — but it's who these radical are that I'm hopeless to cognize much about. After all, we've spent the past six years with them, cowering successful corners and jumping astatine shadows – it's hardly astonishing that we privation to cognize much astir them.

"Phasmophobia has truly large groundwork for the satellite itself being truly absorbing to explore," said Kinetic's elder communicative decorator Ana Dukakis. "And 1 of the archetypal avenues that we looked astatine was the subordinate characters. What benignant of idiosyncratic ends up successful that benignant of job, you know? Why person they chosen to bash that? That was the starting point. And, obviously, getting to enactment with the creation squad and seeing each the truly chill redesigns and worldly that Corey was sharing… That besides inspired loads of ideas for who these characters could be, however they got here. Players volition get a small spot of a tiny model into who these radical are and stuff, and wherefore they're here, and however they did that work."

It's present that Dukakis' power volition beryllium astir noticeable, I suspect. The creation squad whitethorn beryllium fleshing the characters retired physically, but it's Dukakis who's moving connected that metaphorically.

"Phasmophobia has a truly beardown halfway loop," she added. "Off the bat, it's a amusive crippled to play, and the ambiance is already there. It's ace spooky. It's eerie. And I felt similar there's already a consciousness successful the crippled that there's benignant of much going connected underneath the surface. As [Dixon] was saying, arsenic maps and antithetic things person been reworked, I deliberation the squad has already done truly large work, organically gathering lore into those places. Thinking about, like, who lived successful these places before? What benignant of lives did they lead? It's been truly amusive to beryllium capable to physique connected apical of that.

"There are a batch of unfastened questions that are opened by the plan of the game. Who is this company, GHD? What is their goal? Exactly who are these radical moving for them? [It's been fun] gathering astir that to benignant of enrich the crippled that already exists is, yes, it's conscionable a truly amusive challenge."

All cosmetics volition beryllium unlocked done gameplay challenges oregon purchased via the caller in-game store with in-game currency. We saw the embryonic strategy during the caller Cursed Hollow event, arsenic players who stopped by to implicit its limited-time missions unlocked entree to a caller necklace, t-shirt, and the Forest Spirit Mask, giving america our archetypal peek astatine what benignant of cosmetics volition beryllium available.

Interestingly, though, determination are nary microtransactions oregon premium cosmetics. I'll admit that that surprises me; Phasmophobia released into aboriginal entree successful 2020, and portion it's not escaped to download, the game's mechanics, locations, ghosts, and ghost-hunting instrumentality person each been expanded and improved implicit the years without further cost. But I'm told "the game's inactive selling truly well," which is possibly wherefore there's presently nary tendency to fastener cosmetics down paywalls.

"One day, determination mightiness beryllium a concern wherever it's thing we mightiness look into doing, but astatine the moment, there's nary crushed to," Dixon said. "As gamers ourselves, we players similar earning stuff, truthful wherefore not conscionable fto players gain arsenic overmuch arsenic possible? Some [cosmetics] volition beryllium disposable consecutive away. Some worldly volition beryllium locked down our leveling and prestige system, and past immoderate stuff's locked down in-game money. So you tin conscionable walk your in-game currency connected thing other [other than equipment], due to the fact that Phas has ne'er truly had a wealth sink, I guess. But present determination is different happening that players tin benignant of prevention up for and unlock, which is cool."

This is besides wherefore caller maps — some archetypal and reworked — haven't been locked distant down paywalls, either. Dixon said feedback to the latest updated map, Tanglewood, has been "really positive," but admitted reworking that fan-favorite representation was "the scariest one" yet. "It's been truly bully to spot radical starting to spot the process present and spot america arsenic a team," helium explained. "We emotion the crippled arsenic overmuch arsenic they do. We're not gonna wholly alteration it, we conscionable privation it to consciousness similar [reworked/new maps like] Bleasedale [Farmhouse] and Grafton [Farmhouse] and the Diner and just, you know, bring it up to the aforesaid modular arsenic everything else.

"It's benignant of the poster kid for Phas," helium continued. "It was the screen creation connected Steam since time one. So, obviously, erstwhile we reworked it, we knew that players were either gonna emotion it oregon hatred it. There wasn't going to beryllium an in-between. I deliberation the lone negatives we truly saw were astir what we showed early, due to the fact that we lone showed the big changes, and we didn't amusement thing staying the same. I deliberation that frightened a batch of players, but past it astir benefited america erstwhile the update came out, and they were like, 'Oh God, it's really the same, it's conscionable 2 oregon 3 things that are different, but it's better.' We've been implicit the satellite with the feedback, and we each emotion it arsenic a team."

And yes, there'll beryllium much "narrative stuff" coming with the eagerly-awaited 1.0 update, with the subordinate update "slowly laying a spot of the background" down the lore being retconned into the ghost-hunting sim.

"We don't privation to spoon-feed the communicative to people, but for the eagle-eyed players, [they can] commencement piecing unneurotic a small spot much astir GHD arsenic a company, and what, maybe, they're moving towards," Dukakis teased. "I deliberation there'll beryllium immoderate amusive theories coming retired of that stuff, which I'm looking guardant to. I deliberation 1.0 there's going to beryllium loads of truly chill stuff, and for the lore broadside of things, there'll beryllium a batch of bully updates there, too, that volition physique connected what we've got present successful the subordinate quality [update].

"We truly privation to beryllium mindful not to overshadow the main absorption of the people of the game, which is hunting and the acquisition of playing that with your friends oregon different people, being immersed successful that spooky environment. We didn't privation the backstory to overshadow that, but we wanted to drip provender it implicit time, truthful that players who are funny tin look for it. The details that are determination for radical that privation to excavation deeper, but it doesn't encroach connected the gameplay successful immoderate way."

And it goes adjacent further than that, too. Why is it, exactly, that it's these locations that are haunted? What brings them together? Dukakis teased that there's been "a batch of thinking" astir that. Expect much subtle details arsenic things travel retired "gradually implicit time."

As for what's adjacent for the Phasmophobia team? Kinetic has hinted there's much to come, including the caller death, revival, and EMF scholar animations that were antecedently teased successful Phasmophobia’s 2026 roadmap, There's besides an Unity Engine update connected the cards, which'll bring "loads of show stuff, visuals, and immoderate networking things." The large one, though, is the 1.0 update, which is erstwhile the crippled finally exits aboriginal access.

"[That's] the 1 that all the players — and us! — person been waiting for forever," Dixon laughed.

Phasmophobia’s Player Character Update rolls retired from May 5 crossed each platforms (PC, PS5, PS VR2, and Xbox Series X/S).

Vikki Blake is simply a newsman for IGN, arsenic good arsenic a critic, columnist, and advisor with 15+ years acquisition moving with immoderate of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's besides a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her astatine BlueSky.