The Quality of Life Part 2 update is the follow-up patch that cleans up the issues left behind by the player character overhaul and adds a handful of new gameplay features on top. It is the second half of a split release, coming after the 13 Willow Street rework shipped earlier this summer.
Quick answer: The Quality of Life Part 2 update launches on August 25, 2026. No exact launch time has been announced, but Kinetic Games follows a consistent schedule that points to roughly 7am CT, and the update lands on PC, PS5, PS VR2, and Xbox Series X|S.
Release time: August 25, 2026, expected around 7:00am CT
Quality of Life Part 2 release date and launch time
Status: Confirmed. The update is slated for August 25, 2026. Kinetic Games has not published a precise launch time, but the studio’s releases have reliably gone live around 7am CT, so you can expect the patch to arrive close to that window.
Short delays occasionally happen and can push a release back by a few hours. Those slips are uncommon and usually minor, so plan to jump in near the expected time rather than waiting hours past it.
This is the smaller of the two 2026 quality-of-life patches. The larger first part arrived alongside the reworked 13 Willow Street map, and Part 2 continues addressing community feedback gathered after the player character update.
New restricted map variants for Prison, Brownstone High School, and Point Hope
Three maps are getting smaller, restricted versions that seal off large portions of the location so you can run quicker investigations. They work the same way as Sunny Meadows Restricted, shrinking the explorable area rather than changing the map’s core layout.
Point Hope Restricted has a single variant that opens up the map as far as the dining room, which covers the first three floors. Prison Restricted and Brownstone High School Restricted each have multiple variants, some counting as small maps and others as medium, and you are dropped into a random one at the start of each contract.
| Restricted map | Variants | Accessible area |
|---|---|---|
| Point Hope | One variant | Up to the dining room (first three floors) |
| Prison | Multiple variants | Random small or medium layout per contract |
| Brownstone High School | Multiple variants | Random small or medium layout per contract |
Duplicate media indicators on cameras and sound recorders
You will no longer need to open the journal to tell whether a piece of unique media is a duplicate. Each type of capture equipment now shows a visual cue directly on the device, and the exact indicator depends on the gear you are holding.
| Equipment | Duplicate indicator |
|---|---|
| Tier I Photo Camera | Yellow LED light |
| Tier II and Tier III Photo Cameras, all Video Cameras | Faded overlay instead of bold white text |
| Tier I Sound Recorder | Dimmed volume indicators |
| Tier II and Tier III Sound Recorders | Faded sound waves |
Ghost type selection in custom matches
Custom contracts now let you pick the exact ghost type you want to hunt. It is a practical way to study a single entity, since every ghost has subtle behaviors and tells you can learn to recognize during identification.
Journal changes: Shared data and the new “Items we’ve found” section
Two journal changes make tracking a contract easier. Evidence and the ghost type logged by teammates now appear in your own journal, so you can check what the rest of the team has recorded instead of asking over voice.
The old keys section has also been reworked into an “Items we’ve found” section. It lists key assets you pick up around a map, including keys, bones, and seasonal event items, all in one place.
Deceased character appearance and voice chat changes
Dying now looks and sounds different. A dead player’s body takes on greyer skin and misty white eyes, and voice chat cuts out the moment the ghost snaps a player’s neck rather than lingering afterward.
Alongside these visible changes, the update rolls in additional bug fixes and smaller tweaks that have not all been detailed publicly. Kinetic Games has outlined the confirmed items in its official Quality of Life Part 2 preview.
With the August 25 launch handling most of the lingering post-overhaul complaints, this patch is a good moment to return if the player character update pushed you away. Larger work is still on the calendar for the rest of 2026, including the move to Unity 6 in October and a second player character update in November.
