According to Microsoft:
“Titles are permitted to add achievements or gamerscore at any time after launch, with or without corresponding new content, but they cannot exceed title-based or calendar-based limits. A single achievement cannot exceed 200 gamerscore and all achievements in the title must be achievable. Unlocking achievements in the base game or a content update must represent a thorough exploration of or engagement with game content.”
With the terms clearly laid out, it still feels as though many smaller developers are abusing these rules, or at the very least taking advantage of them. As a longtime achievement hunter who is steadily nearing his first million Gamerscore, I have always avoided stacking achievements across multiple console generations and PC unless the games in question were remasters of titles I enjoyed previously.
I’ve also always avoided the “cheap and scummy” Gamerscore that comes from throwing money at the “1000GS in less than 10 minutes” type of games and visual novels unless they were truly games that I wanted to play for enjoyment. Perhaps that’s not very achievement-huntery of me, but I like to actually earn my Gamerscore while having fun doing it, not by purchasing it.
If I cared about my overall Gamerscore, I’d likely drain my bank account and lose my mind, all while stacking achievements and playing mind numbing garbage in a desperate pursuit for those sweet, juicy, nothing-points. I care more about the specific achievements themselves, and the games that contain them.
However, there is a caveat that I think is worth noting. When devs add more achievements to one of their games, and they follow the guidelines put forth by Microsoft, then I’d say that’s fair game! I’m sure I’m not alone in the fact that sometimes I refuse to return to a game after I’ve 100%’d the achievements, even if I really enjoyed the game. There are only a select few favorites that I will revisit that I’ve already completed, but otherwise I am typically on to the next experience and set of challenges.
With that in mind, when developers provide additional achievements to their games after release, it does give me a reason to go back and chase down the new content. If you’re not an achievement hunter, I’m sure that sounds ridiculous and you may be asking, “Why do you care about achievements?” and/or “Why wouldn’t you just play what you want?” Well, the answers to those questions are far too complex and intricate to get into at present, and frankly the response would probably come off as relatively nonsensical. I’ll just say that “It is what it is,” and leave it at that.
Back to the point I was coming up on, every year there are developers that take advantage of Microsoft’s rules on adding achievements to their games, and every year those games sell more copies. That’s the idea, at least in theory. If a dev adds more Gamerscore each time they are within their rights to do so, the game will become more valuable to achievement hunters. As soon as that game goes on sale, it becomes big news in the achievement hunting community and soon its sales rise dramatically as a result of the influx of eager obsessive gamers (me included).
This year there are over 100 Xbox games that have gotten the additional achievement updates, with many of them being versions of the games but with stackable achievements across Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Now with Xbox Play Anywhere taking such a major foothold in the Xbox gaming catalog, this seems like it would be a far less common practice, but it persists, and I believe it to be denigrating the honorable and righteous act of true achievement hunting. I know I’m laying it on pretty thick, but this stuff means something to me damn it!
Regardless, the ultimate home for achievement hunting and tracking, True Achievements, recently revealed a lengthy list of this year’s newly added achievements to previously released video games. Some of the games simply added a handful of easily attainable achievements like destroying a few objects, beating a couple of quick levels, or killing a small number of enemies, among others. Perhaps these don’t feel like… well, “true” achievements, but they do serve to introduce a community of gamers to the developers and their properties, as well as to bring back players who may have otherwise never returned to the titles without the additional achievements to obtain.
Is it scummy? Perhaps. Is it a useful marketing tool for these developers? Absolutely. Is it detrimental to the OG members of the achievement hunting community who poured thousands of hours of their free time into obtaining “real” achievements? I suppose that’s up to you to decide. I’m not really here to judge how you play games, I’m just here to report the news.
Below is the list of games that have added new achievements this year. Enjoy, you filthy animals:
- Bee Flowers: Save the Garden
- Bee Flowers: Save the Garden (Windows)
- Bee Flowers: Save the Garden (Xbox One)
- Beyond Border
- Beyond Border (Windows)
- Bool Capture
- Bool Capture (Windows)
- Bool Capture (Xbox One)
- Buddy Garden
- Buddy Garden (Windows)
- Buddy Garden (Xbox One)
- Bunny Cubed
- Burn in Health
- Burn in Health (Windows)
- Burn in Health (Xbox One)
- Capybara Goes to Space
- Capybara Goes to Space (Windows)
- Capybara Goes to Space (Xbox One)
- Cipher Monk
- Cipher Monk (Windows)
- Cipher Monk (Xbox One)
- Collie Call
- Collie Call (Windows)
- Collie Call (Xbox One)
- Collie Call: Farm of Tomorrow
- Collie Call: Farm of Tomorrow (Windows)
- Collie Call: Farm of Tomorrow (Xbox One)
- ComputerHead: Recoil
- ComputerHead: Recoil (Windows)
- ComputerHead: Recoil (Xbox One)
- Crate Fang
- Crate Fang (Windows)
- Crate Fang (Xbox One)
- Crazy Cats vs. Crazy Cyborgs
- Crazy Cats vs. Crazy Cyborgs (Windows)
- Crazy Cats vs. Crazy Cyborgs (Xbox One)
- Cyber Tank Nano
- Cyber Tank Nano (Windows)
- Cyber Tank Nano (Xbox One)
- Doctor Cat
- Doctor Cat (Windows)
- Escape Dash Journey
- Escape Dash Journey (Windows)
- Escape Dash Journey (Xbox One)
- Fall Asleep
- Fall Asleep (Windows)
- Fall Asleep (Xbox One)
- Fruit Adventure
- Guardian of the Water Altar
- Guardian of the Water Altar (Windows)
- Guardian of the Water Altar (Xbox One)
- Happi Basudei
- Happi Basudei (Windows)
- HoneyLand
- HoneyLand (Windows)
- Icy Gifts
- Icy Gifts (Windows)
- Icy Gifts (Xbox One)
- Idle Wizard
- Idle Wizard (Xbox One)
- Infernitos: Fiery Dishes
- Infernitos: Fiery Dishes (Windows)
- Infernitos: Fiery Dishes (Xbox One)
- Keeper’s Toll
- Knight Quest: Goblins Raid
- Knight Quest: Goblins Raid (Windows)
- Knight Quest: Goblins Raid (Xbox One)
- Legends Aligned: Minis in Conflict
- Legends Aligned: Minis in Conflict (Windows)
- Legends Aligned: Minis in Conflict (Xbox One)
- Lord of the Click 5
- Lord of the Click 5 (Windows)
- Lord of the Click 5 (Xbox One)
- Mainframent
- Mainframent (Windows)
- Mainframent (Xbox One)
- Mimi the Cat: Mimi’s Scratcher
- Mimi the Cat: Mimi’s Scratcher (Windows)
- Mimi the Cat: New Friends
- Mimi the Cat: New Friends (Windows)
- Minos Dungeon
- Minos Dungeon (Windows)
- Minos Dungeon (Xbox One)
- Mystic Pathways: Crystal Quest
- Mystic Pathways: Crystal Quest (Windows)
- Overdrive Blaster
- Overdrive Blaster (Windows)
- Overdrive Blaster (Xbox One)
- Primal Survivors
- Primal Survivors (Windows)
- PuzzlePet – Feed Your Cat
- Quartz Caverns
- Shy Cats Hidden Tracks – Vol. 2
- Sokmeal Time
- Sokmeal Time (Windows)
- Sokmeal Time (Xbox One)
- Sokolab
- Sokolab (Windows)
- Space Filler
- Space Filler (Windows)
- Space Filler (Xbox One)
- SpotCat vs The Cheddar Mafia In The Americas
- Sticky Twig DASH!
- Sticky Twig DASH! (Windows)
- Sticky Twig DASH! (Xbox One)
- Sugarbound
- Sugarbound (Windows)
- The Adventures of Ally The Alligator (Windows)
- Warp Bot
- Warp Bot (Windows)
- Warp Bot (Xbox One)
- Ziggy
- Ziggy (Windows)
