Kinetic Games dropped the long-awaited character update for Phasmophobia on May 5, and the player response has been swift and brutal. Steam reviews for the ghost-hunting co-op title have nosedived since launch, with the game's recent review score sitting at 75% positive as of this week.
The numbers behind the backlash
According to SteamDB, May's review data tells a stark story: just under 600 positive reviews against just under 2,000 negative ones. That's roughly a 25% positive ratio for the month, and that figure still includes pre-update positives mixed in. Strip those out, and the picture for the update itself is likely worse.
For a game that had been hovering near Overwhelmingly Positive status since its release back in late 2020, that's a significant drop. The community hasn't been this vocal about a single update in years.
What actually changed, and why players are unhappy
The update brought new character models, hairstyle options, clothing items, and a set of new animations designed to make investigations feel more immersive. On paper, that sounds like a solid quality-of-life pass. Here's the thing, though: execution matters.
The removal of the so-called "bendy backs" has upset a chunk of the playerbase. Those awkward, physics-defying animations had become a beloved quirk of Phasmophobia over its five-year run, and swapping them out for horror-themed replacements has made the game feel noticeably different to longtime players. The irony is that some of the new animations are generating laughs for entirely unintended reasons, with body movement that players are comparing to scenes from The Exorcist.
The cosmetic grind is the other major sticking point. The character update introduced fewer customization options than players expected, and some of the better rewards are locked behind prestige requirements. Reaching level 100 and then prestiging is a serious time investment, especially for players who don't grind high-difficulty hunts regularly. For a community that was promised a meaningful cosmetic overhaul, the reality feels thin.
Some of the update's bugs are scheduled for a patch the following week, according to a developer announcement made the day before launch. That patch covers items appearing too close to the screen and a handful of animation issues, but won't address the full list of complaints.
Journal font bug post-update
The bug list piling up
Beyond the design complaints, players are reporting a range of technical problems. Client-side interaction bugs, performance drops, gadget issues, and a journal UI that now displays text so small it's nearly unreadable are all showing up in community threads. The Phasmophobia subreddit has become a mix of bug reports and memes, with the Discord equally active with complaints.
What most players miss in these situations is the difference between "the update broke things" and "the update fundamentally changed things we liked." Phasmophobia's situation is both at once, which makes the backlash harder for Kinetic Games to address with a single hotfix.
Where things go from here
The developer has already acknowledged some of the issues and confirmed a follow-up patch is coming. That kind of quick response is a good sign, but it won't immediately reverse the review trend. Steam review scores are notoriously sticky once a wave of negatives rolls in, and rebuilding that Overwhelmingly Positive status will take consistent updates and genuine community goodwill.
For players who want to stay across what's changing in the game, the Tanglewood rework breakdown covers another recent overhaul that landed with far less controversy. If you're coming back to the game after the update or trying to figure out what's worth your time right now, the full Phasmophobia guides collection is the best place to get current.
