The successes, these virtual medals that Microsoft created with the launch of the Xbox 360 and copied in all directions, have always been controversial. Too hard to get, too easy to unlock, buggy, or poorly tiered—the achievements are inevitably destined to evolve. Despite the many statements made by Microsoft over the years, we have not been able to detect the slightest change or improvement in the system.
Lately it’s the Easy 1000G titles that have caught the attention of the American company’s teams. To boost sales of their games, some publishers or studios have not hesitated to include lists of outrageously simple and quick-to-unlock achievements to tempt the gamerscore hunter that lies dormant in all of us. Xitilon, Ratalaïka Games, Eastasiasoft, EpiXR or more recently Bergson’s Games Studios, specialists in this genre, have largely borne the brunt of Microsoft’s ramp-up lately.
Rather than continue to investigate on a case-by-case basis, Xbox has made several changes to its Xbox Game Certification rules related to achievements and gamerscore since early May 2023 to address the issue. When it’s our local colleagues true performance We did our own research on who first reported the information to find out more.
Our sources have confirmed to us that Xbox has indeed changed its rules to prevent developers from releasing simple gamerscore titles that can be completed in minutes or with minimal user intervention.
By definition, for Microsoft, all achievements must represent a thorough exploration or engagement with the content of the game. In the truest sense of the word, these virtual decorations cannot be awarded without a minimum of playing time and taking into account the storyline and the gameplay it contains. Therefore, in order to test the games that will be published in the future on the Xbox Network, Microsoft will apply three new disclaimers that developers must avoid at all costs, otherwise they risk being denied access to the store:
- All achievements can be unlocked within minutes of starting the game.
- Achievements do not constitute in-depth exploration or engagement with game content.
- Achievements can be unlocked with no (or minimal) user interaction, unless required as part of the main game loop
Long story short, if a developer submits their title for pre-release certification and just ticks one of these boxes, it fails. The idea, of course, is to clean up a store that’s literally overrun with titles of this nature. It goes without saying that there’s a spear to match for every shield, and studios will surely find a parade, even if it means playing with words to pass certification.
And you, what do you think?
