At a glance

  • Reworks 13 Willow Street with new assets and room-flow adjustments while retaining the original layout.
  • Adds the Deildegast, with an increased appearance chance during the first weeks after release.
  • Adds PC equipment-slot hotkeys and improves photo, video, Journal, watch, animation, and VR interactions.
  • Hotfix 0.18.0.1 repairs camera behavior, Willow hiding spots, multiplayer item drops, challenge tracking, and VR performance.

Player impact

Returning investigators get a familiar small map with materially different presentation and routing, plus a temporarily easier opportunity to encounter the new ghost. PC and VR players also receive faster inventory and Journal interactions.

Willow Street is recognizable, but not unchanged

Kinetic Games kept the original 13 Willow Street layout while replacing its visual language with new assets and props. Some rooms have new purposes, and the flow between parts of the house has been adjusted. That balance matters: experienced investigators retain their basic mental map, but cannot assume every old line of sight, hiding decision, or room function is identical.

The July 28 follow-up, version 0.18.0.1, specifically fixes cases where ghosts could enter several hiding spots on Willow. The same repair also applies to affected spots on Tanglewood, Edgefield, and Ridgeview. Anyone evaluating the rework from launch-week footage should therefore separate the July 21 release state from the current hotfix state.

The Deildegast discovery window

Version 0.18 adds the Deildegast as a new ghost type. Kinetic says it will have a higher chance of appearing in contracts for the first few weeks after release. The official notes do not define the exact percentage or a final date for that weighting.

That limited period is the clearest reason for ghost hunters to return now. Groups collecting behavior samples or building identification guides can encounter it more often without relying on an exact rate that the developer has not published.

Faster equipment and clearer evidence

PC players can switch equipment slots with the 1, 2, 3, and 4 keys, with rebinding available. A separate watch keybind is also available. The current known issue in 0.18.0.1 says equipment may not be assigned to those numbers in pickup order: a future patch is planned, while Igniters are intended to remain on slot 4.

Photo Cameras now use a highlight frame similar to Video Cameras, with different indicators by camera tier. Media capture prioritizes the evidence with the largest reward or a unique result when multiple candidates are present. EMF Level 5 can be recorded as a separate photo.

The hotfix addresses several camera edge cases, including unwanted extra photos, multiplayer animation interference, and a photo being triggered after another player picks up a dropped camera. It also repairs hunting-ghost videos failing to count for the Apocalypse challenge.

Animation, Journal, and VR changes

New walking and turning animations replace parts of the prior procedural leg behavior. Player-facing grab and door animations were removed to make interactions faster, while other players can still see item-drop animation. The Journal is closer, opens more quickly, and can be opened instantly in VR.

VR also receives character, belt, rotation, and usability improvements. Version 0.18.0.1 then fixes unstable frame rate in the truck and a Bleasdale multiplayer loading lock for VR players.

The broader quality-of-life pass includes quicker eye adaptation, improved lighting around the player, faster cancelable use animations, better photo-evidence detection, network stability work, and fixes across equipment, ghosts, locations, characters, and VR.

What to test first

Start with Willow if the goal is discovery: it combines the strongest visual change, route differences, and fixed hiding spots. Groups hunting the Deildegast should use the increased-appearance window without assuming a published rate. PC players should test the new hotkeys but keep the current assignment-order issue in mind.

Verification record