Achievements and Trophies have been 'bad for gaming', says developer

There are few better ways to extend the replay value of a game than to throw in a generous list of achievements to complete.

Prior to last year, I’d been a lifelong Nintendo fan and had never touched a rival console. When I finally got my hands on a PS5 though, earning trophies quickly changed the way I approached games - I found myself investigating every corner of The Last of Us Part I and pushing myself to take down all the key bosses in Elden Ring, all so I could hear that satisfying ‘pling’ noise. Since then, I’ve been really hoping that Nintendo will incorporate an achievement system in its next console, too.

PS5 owners can prepare themselves to go for the Platinum trophy in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 when it releases this autumn.

Not everyone thinks that the inclusion of such things has been positive on gaming as a whole, though. As TrueAchievements reports, Ubisoft Massive’s lead gameplay designer, Fredrik Thylander, recently took to Twitter to share his “unpopular” thoughts on the matter.

“Unpopular opinion: achievements/trophies have been bad for gaming,” he tweeted. “It narrows games down, it disrupts and diverts attention, and it eats resources that could have made the game better.”

Unpopular opinion : achievements/trophies have been bad for gaming. It narrows games down, it disrupts and diverts attention, and it eats resources that could have made the game better.

— Fredrik Thylander (@Thylander) January 7, 2023

Others have been weighing in: “Interesting take. I think in some instances they're completely pointless. But others can really aid in a full exploration of the game (specifically adventure type games). I don't think I would have explored TLoU2 as much and come to appreciate it if it weren't for trophies,” replied @ArtOfPilgrim. “I see it the other way. Achievements give a reason to go back and replay through a game in different ways. Plus it's nice to have something to show for your efforts and time spent on the game,” @TheRazoredEdge wrote.

It’s definitely an interesting argument, and one that, like so many others have pointed out already, definitely depends on the way that achievements are incorporated. At least for the most part, players can choose to completely ignore achievements if they want to.