Kinetic push two Phasmophobia updates to alleviate VR and other UX pains since Character Update

Kinetic Games has pushed two back-to-back updates for Phasmophobia this week, both aimed at cleaning up issues that followed the Player Character Update, which overhauled character cosmetics and movement but landed with a rough reception from parts of the community, particularly VR players.

Phasmophobia hotfixes aim at VR belt and other quirks

The VR belt has been reimplemented following player feedback, with players now also able to switch between having their Journal and Walkie Talkie on the belt or on their shoulder. The belt is only visible locally, with other players seeing equipment on the body instead. It is a direct response to complaints that the Player Character Update made VR feel clunkier than it was before.

The ghost speed line of sight acceleration introduced with the Player Character Update has also been fully reverted to its original state, restoring the movement behaviour that experienced players were used to before the overhaul.

Other fixes in v0.17.1.4 include a Spirit Box softlock when interacting before the Truck’s CCTV, two separate Kormos bugs allowing it to kill players through floors and from outside, a Tier 3 Firelight issue when placed while lit, jacket display errors in multiplayer lobbies, and a VR text input bug affecting the Spirit Box, Monkey Paw, and Ouija Board.

Hotfix v0.17.1.5 followed on June 3 with two further fixes: a controller-specific Spirit Box softlock and a Steam voice recognition bug. Players still having voice issues on PC are advised to check their default microphone matches the one set in Windows settings.

Kinetic Games is also aware that voice recognition and voice chat problems across all platforms remain a known issue and are still being worked on.

It comes as Kinetic Games is on a major fix-up effort following the overwhelmingly negative reception to the Character Update. The devs confirmed on Tuesday that they will be sharing plans for the rest of 2026 later in June, including a timeline of fixes and updates related to the Character Update and the general game. We’ll see if it affects the original 2026 roadmap as it gets closer to launch. Either way, it’s good that they are working on the mistakes that came through the big patch and get the game in a solid spot for Horror 2.0 and its release date.