Phasmophobia, created by Kinetic Games, started as a small project. A single developer initially brought the idea to life: players take on the role of paranormal investigators and explore frightening locations, where they’re hunted by different evil spirits.
The game’s popularity has been remarkable, and it’s actually helped other online multiplayer games find success as well. Now, Kinetic is getting ready for its next major development. While Hollywood is interested – a movie adaptation is being created with Blumhouse Productions – the developers are still dedicated to providing plenty of new content and experiences for its players.
We recently had a conversation with Daniel Knight and Asim Tanvir of Kinetic. We talked about how well the game is doing, and what plans they have for its future and the team’s next steps.
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TopMob: How did you research for the diner, the game’s upcoming new map?
Daniel Knight: We’ve added plenty of houses to the game already, and we’re no longer planning to build any bigger ones. So, I’m wondering what interesting, smaller maps we could create. I’m not really sure why we ended up focusing on a diner theme.
Asim Tanvir: Based on feedback from the community and what we’re seeing in player data, players generally prefer the smaller maps.
Knight: It’s crazy – about 70% of people are always playing Tanglewood Drive! So, we’re really focusing on making new maps that feel about the same size. We want the diner location to fit in with that overall feel, you know?
When creating large maps such as Brownstone High School or the prison, what key takeaways did you gain from the process? What are your thoughts and feelings about developing these complex environments, especially considering the limited number of players who experience them?
Knight: Creating those maps is a lengthy process. However, we’re updating all of them – including the prison and school – using the same approach we took with Sunny Meadows. As part of this update, we’re considering reducing the size of both the prison and the school, while also significantly improving their overall quality. Right now, the school has many rooms that are quite similar. We want each room to feel distinct and unique. That’s why, when we revamped Grafton Farmhouse, we removed some bedrooms to enhance uniqueness and added details like mannequins and dolls.
Tanvir: We’ve expanded our team significantly, including a large art team and an art director. Currently, they’re concentrating on redesigning Grafton and the Bleasdale farmhouse. Bleasdale has a very detailed and decorative appearance, whereas Grafton is quite the opposite – it’s gloomy, run-down, and in a state of disrepair.
Knight: We rework maps for a specific reason: we want our game to stand out and have its own unique feel, separate from just how it *plays*. When I first built the game, I used basic, readily available assets from Unity. Because of that, you might recognize those same assets in other games.
Essentially, the main focus seems to be improving the game’s graphics to give it a unique look and polish existing features. I have a lot of fond memories of playing with friends and even laughing at how the characters moved – things like their oddly bending backs. We still enjoy the game and find it scary, but those visual quirks have become part of what we love about it.
I’m aware that updating the character designs is planned for the future. I also get that improving the game’s visual quality likely requires those changes. My hope is that you’ll include an option to switch back to the original character models and the way backs used to move.
With the team expanding and the main focus being on Phasmaphobia, what are your thoughts on Kinetic Games evolving from a solo-developer studio at the beginning of Phasmaphobia’s development? How do you see Kinetic Games growing and defining itself as a company beyond just the Phasmaphobia game?
Knight: It was a real challenge to shift my thinking and start building a team. Even after we decided to release the game on consoles, it was still just the five of us working on it. That’s when we realized we needed to expand and bring on more designers and artists. Now, our team has grown to 32 people.
Do you have ideas for other games?
Knight: Yeah. There’s always ideas in the back of my head all the time.
Tanvir: We’re holding off on planning anything new until after Horror 2.0 is released for Phasmaphobia. Right now, we don’t have any specific projects in development.
Daniel, you mentioned in a past conversation with TopMob that you weren’t much of a horror game player. Now that you’ve created Phasmaphobia, has your opinion of horror games-or playing them-changed at all?
Knight: I find it really fascinating to watch people play horror games, especially seeing them get scared even when they’re with a group of friends. A lot of horror games, even the ones you can play with others, end up with everyone just scattering and running in different directions. I wanted to create a game where players actually go through the scary experience together, as a team.
It was fascinating to observe what unfolded when Phasmophobia was released. I didn’t spend a lot of time on playtesting before launch. My main goal was simply to release the game and see how players interacted with it. I was curious to observe their experiences and reactions.
Have you ever been scared by your own game?
Knight: Absolutely, there have been times when that’s happened. We’re constantly updating the game with new content, and we often hear our colleagues getting frightened while playing. It’s not just the QA team, but also the art and programming teams – we can hear their screams throughout the office.
What is it like having an office full of people scared all the time?
Tanvir: It means things are working.
Since you’re a fan of horror films, what’s it like now working with Blumhouse Productions?
Knight: Oh yeah, I like most of their stuff already. I think The Conjuring Series are my favorite.
What’s your favorite of The Conjuring films?
Knight: The second one.
You got it! You’ve shared before that you enjoy shows such as Ghost Adventures. Was there a particular horror film or series that really influenced the creation of Phasmophobia?
Knight: The Haunting of Hill House really stood out because it focused heavily on building suspense. Also, the TV show The Terror was a major influence. Those two were the primary inspirations for Phasmophobia.
Given that movies and television were the main influences on Phasmophobia, and assuming you aren’t a fan of horror games, what types of games *do* you enjoy? Also, are there any specific games that helped inspire the creation of Phasmophobia?
Knight: I’m pretty busy, so I don’t have a lot of time for gaming. Lately, I’ve been enjoying Rematch quite a bit. I like games that let me play in short bursts – around 30 minutes – and then stop. That’s actually a big reason why I created Phasmophobia the way I did.
Kinetic Games has been in the spotlight lately thanks to their movie agreement and the expansion of their team, including the creation of new maps and improvements to existing ones. What aspects of your work haven’t received as much attention?
Knight: At first, the game did really well, and many people thought we had a large team – around 200 people, they guessed. But actually, it was just me working on it. When people discovered that it wasn’t a big team effort, they were surprised. We still get that reaction sometimes, even though we now have 32 people on the team.
When did you realize you needed to hire people?
Knight: About seven or eight months after the initial launch, I was putting in over 60 hours each week – every single day, including weekends. I realized I couldn’t keep up that pace long-term, so I needed to bring on some help to regain a work-life balance.
What were you doing for a living when you first started developing the game?
Knight: I’d been unemployed for some time and didn’t have much game development experience. I simply decided to give it a shot and kept working on it consistently.
I had a strong desire to be self-employed. Fortunately, I was living with my parents, which greatly simplified things at the time.
My parents encouraged me to find serious employment. Honestly, even I didn’t anticipate much success with the game. I was hoping to sell a thousand copies, but that number was exceeded within just a few hours of its release.
You began developing the game by yourself, relying on pre-made resources. This meant the core gameplay itself defined what the game *was*. Then, players joined and began shaping the game’s identity through their shared experiences and creations. Now, with a dedicated team enhancing the visuals and refining the experience, the challenge is finding a balance. How do you honor your original vision, meet the expectations of the community, and also incorporate the contributions and ideas of your team?
Knight: The game’s direction is mostly driven by the team’s vision, and a lot of that comes from me. When we first launched, I wasn’t able to include everything I’d hoped for, so a lot of our current work is focused on finishing those features. Now, we’re also getting valuable input from the art team, which is fantastic. Of course, we also listen to what the community has to say. We collect feedback every month through a form on our Discord server and review all of it. While it doesn’t always change our overall plan, it helps us make smaller improvements.
What is the one thing the community asks for that you will not put in the game?
Knight: We often receive requests from players wanting to be able to capture a ghost once they’ve identified it. I experimented with that idea, but it actually diminished the scary atmosphere. Giving players the ability to capture the ghost made them feel more powerful, which wasn’t the effect we were going for, so I removed that feature.
Another important aspect is the ability to play as ghosts. Since this is fundamentally a social game, I’m aiming to avoid making it competitive. I don’t want to attract players who are primarily focused on competition.
Once you relinquish control, things become less certain, and you begin to approach situations with greater reason and a stronger drive to succeed.
Knight: Yeah, I want to keep the community friendly.
Are there any levels or environments you haven’t been able to explore yet?
Knight: The one thing that keeps coming up internally is doing a fun fair.
Tanvir: We get many requests for partnerships. What we usually say is that it’s a possibility, but not a definite yes. Unlike games like Fortnite, any collaboration we do needs to fit naturally within the world of our game.
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2025-10-03 20:12