Phasmophobia Just Got a Voice Chat Upgrade

A new update has been released for Phasmophobia, and players can expect to see a number of changes and improvements as a result. There isn’t really anything in terms of new content, but developer Kinetic Games has made adjustments to several aspects of the game, which should make for a better experience overall. These include adjustments to the photo system, changes to the lantern room, and a large amount of fixes. While the developer is referring to this as a “minor update,” there’s probably more than most players would expect here. 

The most notable changes from this new update relate to Phasmophobia‘s voice chat system. The voice chat system has changed from Photon Voice to Vivox, and players should expect to see some improvements as a result. For one thing, this means that the game will now support a larger number of headphones and microphones. Players can also expect noise suppression and echo cancellation, both of which should make the experience sound clearer. Players were also apparently encountering issues where global chat would simply stop working overall, but that has now been resolved. These changes should be live as of this writing, so players can test them out and see the changes for themselves. 

Full patch notes from the game’s official page on Steam can be found below: 

VIVOX

The multiplayer voice chat system has been changed from Photon Voice to Vivox. Voice recognition is unaffected by these changes. This new system has:

• Higher quality audio
  
• Support for a wider range of microphones and headphones
  
• Echo cancellation
  
• Noise suppression
  
• Fixed the issue where the ghost can’t hear you during single-player
  
• Global chat will no longer suddenly stop working
  

NEW

• Two photos can now be removed from the journal
  
  • You cannot remove 3-star photos
    
  • While in multiplayer games, players will vote on whether a photo should be removed or not
    
  • UI has been added to the photo journal pages to show the amount of photo removals available
    
  
  Note: This is a temporary fix to alleviate many issues players have had with the photo system, this will be adjusted further in the upcoming major photo rework update.

CHANGES

• The lantern room has been split into different ghost rooms to avoid confusion and fix sensor placement:
  
  • Lantern room top
    
  • Lantern room bottom
  
  
• Removed BHaptics support
  
• Improved player movement to help it feel much smoother and experience less stuttering
  
• Head bob now only bobs when you’re moving
  
• Wheelchairs will no longer be pushed when interacting with, a new interaction will be added to these wheelchairs further in development
  
• The fuse box on Point Hope will now only spawn in the entry house, kitchen, games room, and master bedroom floors
  
• Lowered the volume of the Tanglewood landline phone interaction
  
• Lowered the volume of the airball ghost event

FIXES

• DOTS III light will no longer stop emitting when placed in certain areas
  
• The sound sensor icons will now face the correct direction on the mini-map
  
• The lighthouse tent door in Point Hope is no longer invisible when viewed through parabolic glass
  
• Adjusted the broken fuse box sparks to stop them from going through floors
  
• You can no longer walk up the broom in the Point Hope maintenance room
  
• Phantoms will now disappear when taking a photo of them with a full journal
  
• Several plates now have more accurate collision
  
• Moved some assets to stop players from getting stuck behind the fire gate in the Point Hope games room
  
• Players will no longer jitter when going up the top-level stairs in Point Hope
  
• Players will no longer get stuck when travelling down the inside of top-level stairs in Point Hope
  
• Fixed the rendering artefacts on Point Hope’s upstairs doors
  
• It is now possible for VR players to acquire the Ferryman badge
  
• You can now sprint when you die if your sprint setting is set to “Off”
  
• Players can no longer climb certain objects after traversing staircases
  
• You can now achieve the poltergeist and revenant achievements with a mimic
  
• The banshee’s “ability used” stat will now only count if the Banshee reaches a player’s position during its targeted wander
  
• Shades will now consistently work as intended when players leave the room
  
• Goryo will now give DOTS evidence correctly when there are no players in the same room as the ghost
  
• The spirit box will provide evidence more consistently when the ghost only responds to “alone” players
  
• Ghost events will no longer occur with no one in the location
  
• When using a gamepad, you will no longer buy and sell items in the shop unintentionally, at the same time as enabling/disabling/resetting your loadout
  
• The VR teleport stamina visuals will now display correctly
  
• If your ID badge gets removed due to it not being unlocked, you no longer have to select a new role to be able to play the game
  
• Improved the spawn positions of the bone in Point Hope
  
• Blocking an “I wish to see the ghost” hunt with a tier III crucifix, will no longer leave the player who wished permanently blind
  
• The VR loading screen will now fade to black correctly when loading Training
  
• You can now place video cameras consistently on tripods in VR
  
• Banshees entering their DOTS state will no longer increase the ability used stat

How do you feel about these changes to Phasmophobia? Do you think these will make for a more enjoyable game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!