Video Games
Reworked Tanglewood Map Now Available in ‘Phasmophobia’ [Trailer]
Kinetic Games has picked up from last year’s map revamping with today’s launch of the reimagined Tanglewood map for Phasmophobia as a free update on all platforms. Completed to bring all game visuals up to the highest (and spookiest) standards, the map retains the original haunting feel while improving replayability.
The Tanglewood map is one of the very first maps added to Phasmophobia when it launched into Early Access on Steam back in 2020. Seen as a beginner map and looked on fondly by fans, it is a single-story location and a basement, containing multiple rooms and ghost looping spots. Now, the team has grown and given Tanglewood a fresh look as the game approaches 1.0.
The map is full of new paranormal interactions, a revamped look with added clutter, and sound effects to add extra scares to the ghost-hunting experience, such as a curveball tumble dryer beep. These small additions aim to enhance the overall gameplay and refresh the map for those already familiar with it.
“Our community knows this map inside out, so we wanted to approach the rework very carefully,” said Corey Dixon, Art Director at Kinetic Games. “Ultimately, the update is to implement improvements to game visuals and gameplay, while deepening the eerie atmosphere and narrative. It’s the same Tanglewood we know and love, but with better, spookier elements. Players might even find some clues about what happened in the house before the haunting…”
Kinetic Games has also teased a new interactive element to be discovered in the basement, though so far, only a photo of a locomotive train has been released. This comes alongside new ghost interactions and small interior details, to be revealed to players when they step in for the first time.
Following the Tanglewood rework, Kinetic Games will now shift focus to the player character overhaul and a revamp of 13 Willow Street, both of which are detailed in the 2026 Phasmophobia roadmap.
Phasmophobia is available for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Steam
Overshadowing the announcement of Ninja Theory’s third entry in the Hellblade series earlier this month were reports that the developer was facing possible closure by Microsoft, alongside South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games and Double Fine. Now according to a new story by GamesBeat, another developer under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella is potentially facing closure in Undead Labs, who are currently working on State of Decay 3.
Earlier this month, new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma had announced that Microsoft was in the process of ‘resetting’ Xbox. That resulted in a report by Bloomberg during Summer Game Fest that revealed that multiple developers were negotiating with Microsoft to spin off of Xbox to avoid closing down. Now, according to the GamesBeat report, Undead Labs is now part of that group of developers negotiating to be bought to avoid layoffs.
The article states that Undead Labs could lose 110 jobs if it were shut down, while Compulsion could lose 90 jobs, Ninja Theory could lose 135 jobs, and Double Fine Productions could lose 100 jobs.
Other developers and publishers at Microsoft also reportedly face cuts, including Blizzard, id Software and Bethesda.
Undead Labs was acquired by Microsoft back in 2018, with State of Decay 3 being announced in 2020. News on the development of the game was quiet until 2024, when a new trailer was released. Updates on the game again were hard to come by until last January when then-Xbox Game Studios lead Craig Duncan revealed that development was still very much alive. That was followed up this month with an official announcement that State of Decay 3 would be coming next year to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store.