Essential figures of today's games, the Trophies are distinguished by an action to be carried out in order to unlock a reward (in the form of a notification). Once all these actions are completed, the player then gets the ultimate reward: a Platinum Trophy on Playstation consoles and a total of 1000 points on Steam and Microsoft consoles. How important is this reward? Can it enhance the enjoyment of the game or degrade it? What if it was just a new business strategy? Focus! They first appeared on the Xbox 360 under the name "hits". Every launch game on the console had them, whether it was Need for Speed Most Wanted, King Kong or Gun… The goal was simply to allow players connected to the network to compare their performance through their virtual rewards. Sometimes it only yielded a simple notification with a few points. But sometimes it brought back real rewards for the game like Valve did with Team Fortress 2 in 2007. Each action earned between 5 and 200 Gamertag points. The larger the number, the more difficult the action was to achieve. Each Xbox 360 and Xbox One game had a minimum of 1000.
A reward system… virtual above all!
The appearance of success is immediately noticeable. The quest for "100%" becomes the main quest of a game before the game itself. Microsoft even goes so far as to punish cheaters, those who abuse software and hacks to artificially inflate their score. What was only a video game detail then becomes a real object of passion that does not always create unanimity. In 2008, Super Stardust HD was released on the PS3 PlayStation Store. This small independent space shoot'em up then becomes Sony's answer to Microsoft as to the use of its successes. 12 Trophies are unlocked throughout the game. Heroes of Lava: Ending the Lava Planet becomes Sony's first-ever Trophy for its players. Very quickly, PS3 games make this reward system appear in their games by updates. If some like Heavenly Sword (2007) do without it completely, it will not be the same for Uncharted Drake's Fortune, Dead Space or Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) whose publishers decide to adopt the concept. The system will then become mandatory thereafter. The question that frequently arises is that of their usefulness: what is the point of getting virtual rewards that seem to bring nothing more? 
First of all, they would make it possible to exploit from top to bottom everything that the game offers. This also allows it to significantly increase its lifespan. A video game sold at a high price at its release must be profitable and offer dense content that can occupy players. This reward system could then serve as an object of comfort regarding the lifespan of a video game work.
Trophies to have fun until weariness?
Let's take BioShock as a first example. The 2007 2K Boston artwork added Trophies requiring specific actions to offer a longer lifespan. If the player wants to prove that he has completed the game 100%, then he will have to agree to finish the game in several difficulties, but also without using a Vita-chamber. All this again the difficulty of the game. The quest for objects to collect, called collectible, will also be part of the game. This increase in the lifespan of a game can allow players to discover scenes and actions they never knew existed. It can also act as a pretext to artificially lengthen it to the point of causing a feeling of disgust. Bloodborne, a 2015 production of From Software, unlocks Trophies to players who defeat the main and optional bosses. But also to players who reveal more the Lore of the work. Being a game whose scenario is very mysterious, the hunt for Trophies can be essential. This creates a real quest for satisfaction in the image of the game itself. 
However, in the case of Prototype, Activision's very difficult action game (2008), while some Trophies push to accomplish the game at 100%, others lead to real frustration and weariness. Like asking a player to eliminate exactly 53,596 types of enemies. Lost Planet II, Capcom's 2009 production, offers virtual rewards if the player recompletes a mission 300 times in a certain difficulty or if he makes a specific gesture as many times as necessary. According to PSN Profiles surveys, only 0.13% of gamers passed. That is an extremely low number. 
Note other games that seem to inflate their lifespan through achievements. Such is the case of the excellent Devil May Cry 5 which still requires to obtain the higher score of all missions in all difficulties. Or Dragon Ball FighterZ asking for a similar score to more than 200 hours of progression.
Trophies, a pretext for multiplayer?
Dragon Ball FighterZ is itself one of those fighting games offering to compete against players online. Today, it has become the main interest of all fighting games. It is therefore necessary to become the best in order to face real professionals. The Trophies then appear in the online multiplayer mode and fuel this desire to progress. This can be by accompanying the player as in the Tekken saga, which unlocks rewards as he gains ranks or by pushing him to his limits, such as Street Fighter V which requires players stronger than you to win 330 times! However, with the appearance of these virtual rewards in network multiplayer, the games do not seem natural. Some will only play to unlock the reward and not for fun. Dead By Daylight, an online-only game that offers to control serial killers against survivors, is confronted with distorted games because of certain successes. Is it really necessary for a player to agree to cross fences more than a hundred times in one game just for a reward while his team is losing the round? Does it really make sense to ask players to complete all the actions of the multiplayer in a single ten-minute game, as was the case with Assassin's Creed Brotherhood on PS3 (whose servers have since closed)? 
It may not be trivial that Activision has decided to end the Trophies in multiplayer mode in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The studio prefers to focus fully on the solo adventure, too often forgotten by players. In multiplayer, the fun of gaming should take precedence over the pleasure of having a reward. Note that some lists of these rewards like Fortnite are an integral part of the game. They will unlock as the player progresses, provided they play for hundreds and hundreds of hours. Small anecdote of reward that the players do not digest yet today. The boxing game Fight Night Round 4 (2009) prevents the quest for 100% because you have to defeat the world champion… The latter has refused to play since he received the title… Not very fair play! The server has since closed.
An excuse to master the gameplay?
Apart from the lifespan, the gameplay must also be mastered by the player. The specific actions of the virtual rewards must then associate the way of playing with the duration of the game. Among these actions can overlap with classics such as : "Kill a certain number of enemies with a weapon chosen by the game", "Overcome an obstacle with a time constraint or try", "Defeat the boss without exploiting his weak point", etc. Let's go back to the example of Dead Space. In the first part, a reward prohibited the player from using any weapon other than the one offered to him at the beginning (the plasma cutter). In the second part, he had to finish the game in a difficulty in three saves maximum, forcing him to know the game in every nook and cranny. Fighting games like Persona 4 Arena or die & retry like Super Meat Boy require hundreds of hours of gameplay before knowing all the solutions to succeed. Some developers go so far as to encourage the player to surpass himself. This was the case for The Evil Within, a survival horror from Bethesda Studios, which offers the terrifying Akumu mode, known to be impossible to finish. Players are free to take up the challenge or not. Sometimes this demand to master the game can make some teeth cringe. This was the case for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, which was the victim of a petition to withdraw one of its unobtainable rewards for a beginner. Wolfenstein asked for a vulgar reward of 30 points (Bronze on PS4) to finish the game in its superior difficulty without dying and without saving. Ten hours of play in one go.
"The game is probably rather balèze in the levels of high difficulty, which is perfect, but the prerequisites to unlock Mein Leben are inhuman. A game of this length should have a backup system. As an FPS expert, I accept the challenge, but as a student, I just don't have time to play something for more than ten hours straight. I'm sure many trophy hunters would give you the same reasons, as I've already seen in a few forums. Please change the criteria to make them more accessible so that this Trophy can be obtained through multiple game sessions. " (Online petition)
Sometimes, total control of the game could also be associated with punishment from developers who test the limits of the player. Rock Band (2007) asked to finish the sixty music tracks without error and without taking a break. A psychological test of more than six hours non-stop and whose result is called "Iron Bladder". Proof of a bad joke from the developers? In itself, associating gameplay with lifespan would seem to fit the perfect definition of a trophy hunt: take on a challenge and live up to it. However, when the story of the game can be interesting, it could be unfortunate that everything pushes us to master the gameplay and skip the rest of the game. Let's point to the small indie game Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption. It requires defeating or being defeated by bosses with a certain strategy. Nothing is associated with the exploration and discovery of history. The player can therefore miss out on so much information. Finally, Crypt of the Necrodancer, an indie game acclaimed by the press, requires patience and a steel requirement to get to know the gameplay between rhythm and RPG. It will take more than 100 to 300 hours to finally surpass the status of amateur. On some forums, the game is considered the one with the most difficult Trophies like Super Meat Boy, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Lost Planet II or Gran Turismo 5. 
A pretext to build in the image of the game?
Since the virtual rewards system is now mandatory, some developers have decided that Trophies will not only contain futile actions to be repeated several times. They will also make it possible to question his universe. As we mentioned earlier, Bloodborne and From Software' s Dark Souls series push the player to learn more about the universe offered to him rather than encouraging him to finish the game under particular gameplay conditions. Remedy's latest production, Control, featuring Jesse Faden, director of the Federal Bureau of Control, introduces the search for elements and files (the famous collectibles). They have a real usefulness for the appreciation of a scenario and a very "Lynchian" lore of which we know nothing without the slightest element to look for. This investigation even leads to theorizing crazy stories about the Remedy studio itself. On the existence of its characters or simply assuming that Control would be a "sequel" of another cult game of the studio without however posing a scenario justification. A bit like M. Night Shyamalan for Split and Unbreakable in the cinema. Coming soon in a DLC? 
Erica, full motion independent video, released in 2019 on PS4, is an interactive film with an oppressive atmosphere. The player must assume his choices. Like the productions of Quantic Dream (Heavy Rain, Detroit: Become Human), the game hides all of its rewards. They will only unlock at the end of the story, leaving the player with only the disappointment or satisfaction of having lived a story that would resemble him. However, it will be necessary to accept to live 6 times this feature film of two hours to aim for the quest of 100%. Necessary? Absolutely since all the pieces of the puzzle of this atmosphere at Suspiria can not be found without having discovered all the possibilities of history. Search on the Internet for the objectives to accomplish of these Trophies would then come to take the risk of being spoiled all the twists. Are you ready to do anything for a Trophy? 
Some even manage to associate their universe with the reflection of what rewards bring. Thus in The Simpsons (2008), a success simply requires to pause the game. In the mundane adaptation of Deadpool, the ultimate reward is "You can sell the game again! ". Also noteworthy is South Park: The Stick of Truth where every action to be performed could be seen as a reference to episodes of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's satire. Finally, it might be wise to suggest that many developers seem to mock the concept of successes by sometimes offering outright provocation. This was the case for Garry's Mod which asked to connect at the same time as the developer of the game. Journey recommended playing a week after quitting. Probably a way like any other to remind that these are just people and that real rewards await you in life. This mockery causes developers to create rewards for ridiculous actions. Like not touching the controller for a long time (30 seconds in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, 5 minutes in Saw, 10 minutes in Everybody's Gone to Rapture). Black The Fall is an indie game in the same context as Limbo and Inside. It tells the story of a man forced to work in the factory in a dictatorship dreaming of freedom. A Trophy then asks players to accept to lose their freedom temporarily and work for about twenty minutes (watch in hand) without doing anything else. His description? "Ignorance is a blessing" ! Pessimistic, isn't it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgBrIbm0A5s Let's also mention the productions of the studio Telltale Games (The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us etc.) who are completely disinterested in what can be offered to players by gameplay and lifespan. Finishing the story immediately brings the supreme reward, making it accessible to everyone and especially making you want to buy the sequel. The studio then made a reputation among savvy hunters. So virtual rewards could be a lucrative solution? 
An excuse to make money or make yourself known?
Some games have made a name for themselves thanks to their easy-to-access rewards. And it seems to be working! My Name is Mayo by Green Lava Studio is offered for the modest sum of 1 € on the PSN. The only interest of this mini game "mindfuck" is to type a jar of mayonnaise. If the player taps it 10,000 times, he will earn rewards. The game owes its profitability and fame in independent video games to this form of interest alone. The studio managed to develop its second game, in a similar delirium thanks to the success of the previous one, named Mr Massagy which is intended to be a parody of the Tinder application. Once again, the game owes its notoriety for its 100% very easy. Players would be tempted to succumb to an easy trophy hunt. They will then decide to play a bad game to boost their virtual score. This is the case of Little Adventure on the Prairie ! Probably a bad joke, but the game is devoid of history and above all completely boring. If My Name is Mayo at least had the merit of being completely offbeat, the other game is relatively bad and was only sold to offer Trophies. Unlocking Trophies becomes a real selling point. Bad games only see their merit to increase its number of rewards. The too many video game reboots of yesteryear offer a list as a very good solution to relive the game. The publishers of One Night Stand, Ratalaika Games are experiencing a small notoriety thanks to its easy-to-access awards. 36 Fragment of Midnight only requires two short hours. Jack'n'Jill only forces you to finish the first level. InkSplosion only requires you to defeat 50 enemies in hard level. Of course, the result of these games is not always synonymous with great video game discovery. Nevertheless, most small independent works make it possible to restore the image of a type of game too often distant because of the big blockbusters while offering various and varied forms of experimental gameplay. In addition, they offer emotion and nostalgia to players who could quickly find their account and while they were looking for an easy reward, are confronted with an unexpected crush. This hunt for rewards would then be optimistic. It could allow the small development studio to gain some popularity. Drowning did not go unnoticed thanks to the Trophy Hunters. Entirely in English, the game is a plea against depression and its consequences before being a very easy game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lRI5HwE4_Q Unfortunately, some companies go too far and decide to associate these rewards with micro-transactions. Electronic Arts with Star Wars Battlefront II and NBA 2K 2019 offers players to pay with their credit card. They can finish the game much faster and save a lot of time. Two Injustice Trophies 2 (Neatherealm Studios) can be unlocked more easily with the help of a little cash. The first requires unlocking an ability that is only obtained in a very random way and it will therefore be necessary to buy many boxes of equipment. The second asks to increase the level of his characters to the maximum which can be very long, unless the player decides to buy all the necessary experience of the trophy for 99 euros. Paying to platinum a game might seem dubious. But it must be recognized that it works in the video game market. Is paying for a trophy as immoral as paying for a bad game just because your ultimate reward is unlocked in ten minutes? Many games, including Party Games and multiplayer games, require a little money to be 100% complete. Indeed, you will either need to buy several accessories marketed (four microphones in Singstar for example or four PS Move in Sports Champions), or buy a subscription online. Should money then take precedence over the talent and determination of a player? NieR Automata, produced by Platinum Games and Square Enix, mocks these micro-transactions with a lot of class. A hidden shop allows you to buy the game's Trophies with the money of the character and not the player. This desire fits perfectly into one of the many philosophy lessons offered by this game.
A real social network!
In this commercial issue, trophy hunters then seem to become influencers as on social networks. Sites are created to help and list hunters in their quests of 100% (PSTHC, PlaysationsTrophies, SuccessOne etc.). They assign scores on the distribution of awards and recommend to their community whether it is worth it or not. A game with a low difficulty could then attract many more people than a game with a reward bordering on the impossible. Fortunately, some go so far as to help each other achieve difficult successes. This reinforces a community immersion in video games. Players can compare themselves, share their greatest victories and accumulate "likes". On social networks, similar hashtags accumulate and give more than 10,000 publications. On the menus of the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, it becomes quite possible to follow a player playing the same game as you, because he masters it and has completed it 100%. There are even groups reserved for those who collect these rewards and present their hunted "prey" to the eyes of others every day. The more difficult the game, the more many others will compliment it. Some hunters become celebrities in the industry thanks to the many records that his collection has. In 2018, Hakoom of his nickname, is mediatized because he has just won his 1,700th Platinum Trophy. A year earlier, on Xbox, it was Stallion83 that became popular thanks to its record. A talent judged on his million points after playing for eleven years. Microsoft offered him a lifetime subscription, proving the relevance that a hunt can bring. 
It is strange to end with an assumption that virtual rewards also contain consequences for the relationship between player and game. Indeed, the player could no longer be interested in the game but simply in the rewards. Even worse, he could choose his game based on the Trophies he would offer and not for what the game could offer. The list of Trophies seems to adapt to the world of the game. They create a certain consistency so as not to dispossess the player and let him plunge into the universe. How many players would deprive themselves of playing a masterpiece just because easier Trophies are at hand? Nintendo has not yet decided if it will offer this hunt in its new games. The context of the publishing house is more family than competitive. It would be wise to think that adding achievements and trophies would be against what Nintendo wants to present to its players. However, one could imagine what The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Octopath Traveler could offer to their players, who already have an unforgettable experience… To conclude, remember that the most important thing is to have fun and play the games you love. If you feel bored or frustrated, it's because the game is not for you. There is no real reward, so everyone is allowed to make mistakes! It's up to you whether you want to take up the challenge or not. Everyone is free to play and live the video game as they wish…
