New Phasmophobia Ghost Gets a Nickname for the President

Phasmophobia players can't stop talking about Obama after the game introduced a new ghost whose name loosely resembles that of the 44th US president. The coincidence has snowballed into a full-fledged meme that is currently overflowing Phasmophobias online communities.

The new ghost, officially called Obambo, is one of many additions included in the latest Winter's Jest update for Phasmophobia. The patch rolled out on December 16, raising the game's version number to 0.15.1.0 and kicking off the 2025 edition of its annual holiday event.

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Phasmophobia: Winter's Jest 2025 Event Guide

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Phasmophobia's Obambo Ghost nicknamed “Obama” by fans

Within hours of the new one Phasmophobia update goes live, fans started nicknaming Obambo “Obama”. The fact that the patch introduced a new holiday activity seemingly quickly helped the gag, as many players logged into the game to play the annual seasonal event and immediately began writing about the “Obama” hunt. The joke has already found its way into many popular meme formats, including the evergreen “thanks, Obama” template.

Some players are amused 'Obama' debuted in Phasmophobia Before Spectre

Amidst the ongoing sea of gags that can be found on gaming's largest subreddit, a meme that recently gained traction saw its author express amusement at Phasmophobia get “Obama” before Spectre. For reference, for years now fans have been calling for a new ghost type called Spectre, going so far as to develop detailed concepts for it, while arguing that such an addition would be a perfect fit for Kinetics' hit survival horror game. The British developer has yet to give any official indication of seriously considering this move, which would potentially cause some localization difficulties to see how Phasmophobias terrifying teleporting Wraith translates as “Spectre” in some languages.

Phasmophobia just broke its Steam player count record for December 2025

The Obama meme may have helped boost the release of the 0.15.1.0 patch, which saw the game increase to 36,891 concurrent players on Steam, a new record in December 2025. According to December 17 data compiled by SteamDB, Phasmophobia is currently the 39th largest game on Valve's storefront by daily active users, as well as the 45th best-selling game on the platform.

Serious player reactions to Phasmophobia's “Obama” ghost are mixed

Memes aside, serious player reactions to Obambo currently appear to be mixed. While some fans praised the ghost's design as terrifying enough to keep them on their toes, others don't seem to enjoy its oscillating activity, which reportedly swings wildly between calm and spiky, potentially making the chase feel abrupt. Some players' frustrations are not directed at the ghost itself, but rather at the in-game journal, which prioritizes flavor text over clear guidance on how to identify Obambo. This issue also affects the other two ghosts introduced in update 0.15.1.0: Gallu and Dayan. As a result discover Phasmophobias three new ghost types without external help can be a frustrating experience – one that will likely continue until Kinetic adds clearer hints or the evidence combos become more familiar among players.

What is the next step for Phasmophobia in its Post-Obama Era

Patch 0.15.1.0 is expected to be Phasmophobias final content update in 2025. For 2026, Kinetic has already confirmed that several major additions are in the works, including the so-called Horror 2.0 update which is expected to coincide with the game leaving early access after more than five years. This reworking of Phasmophobias core mechanics are expected to introduce new ghost events and interactions, among other novelties. Separately, Kinetic is also working on additional maps and seasonal events. Phasmophobia has also been announced for Switch 2 during The Game Awards 2025, with its eShop release currently slated for 2026. According to Kinetic, the Switch 2 version of the co-op horror game will offer the same content as its PC, PlayStation, and Xbox counterparts.