Phasmophobia entered our lives in 2020 and quickly became a huge sensation, being a favorite for streamers on Twitch and YouTube. With its inventiveness with features such as speech recognition, allowing for the ghosts to understand key words spoken by players and alter the experience accordingly, it proved to be an engaging and tension-filled experience. Now, six years later, Phasmophobia is reworking the 13 Willow Street map, following the success of the updated Grafton and Bleasdale farmhouse, as well as 6 Tanglewood Drive. 

What else do you need in a man cave aside from a couch, a TV, and ghost or two?

The new version of the 13 Willow Street map will include improvements such as room redesigns, altered hiding spots, and brand-new lore, which will embedded within the game. This will be in addition to the inclusion of the first of two major quality-of-life updates planned for the game, which will improve player character models, animations, and customization options. Fan favorite locations such as Crimson Eye, Winter’s Jest, and Edgefield will also make a triumphant return later this year.

Now while I wasn’t able to play the demo for myself, I was treated to a guided play session by one of the developers. This demo was intended to showcase the dev’s vision for the game’s full 1.0 launch coming up in 2027, using the Unity 6 engine. What I saw got me very excited as the graphics are shaping up to be vastly improved from the original version. They’ve updated the decorations in the rooms to reflect current trends, such as a garage that has been converted into a weight room (something I’ve seen plenty of in real life), as well as transforming the basement into a game room/man cave. The lighting is much more dramatic, and the level of detail within the objects within the room is impressive.

The level of detail in each new ghost design is remarkable.

They’re also completing overhauling the sound design, giving a far more realistic and immersive experience. For example, it was raining in-game during the play session, and you could hear the difference in the sound the rain made from hitting the roof versus the window. The devs are also playing around with how the acoustics within Phasmophobia work. This means that not only will voices become clearer or more muffled depending on where each player is within the location, but they will also alter depending on which room they’re in. The dining room with its open spaces and hardwood floors will give voices more resonance and echo, while the walled in, carpeted basement will sound more dampened. 

Meet some of the new spirits who are going to haunt your dreams.

This is all incredibly exciting, but I’m personally most looking forward to are the new ghost designs and lore. There are six new ghost designs in Phasmophobia, which will replace the current models. These include spirits such as a drowned woman, and electrocuted woman, a mental patient, and a child (because of course there has to be a creepy kid). The designs also include distinctive animations, such as the drowned woman having floating hair when you encounter her and the mental patient whipping the straightjacket ties. They’ll also spawn in areas that reflect how they died, like the drowned woman spawning near water and the burn victim appearing near fire.

Each ghost has its own corresponding trinket, something that anchors them to each location. These include things such as a broken lightbulb, a smashed watch, and a child’s bracelet. Players will need to find these items in order to get more of each spirit’s back story and potentially allow them to finally move on. This is my favorite aspect of the upcoming changes as it gives an already fun game even more depth.

Each of these seemingly mundane trinkets is a conduit for one of the spirits.

The new 13 Willow Street map will be available on July on July 21st for all platforms, and will be a free upgrade for those who already have the game. Phasmophobia version 1.0 is set to release next year, giving me more than enough reason to revisit this game with some friends. 

*All assets were provided by the publisher.