This is an opinion piece from writer Travis Northup. IGN's opinion columns represent the personal viewpoints of the writer, drawing on their own experiences and research to explore the exciting world of video games.

During a recent visit to Phantom Blade Zero developer S-GAME ahead of the action RPG’s release, the studio showed off a pretty neat difficulty option that unlocks once you’ve beaten the game, called 66 Days Mode. Here, you’re given just 66 chances to complete the entire campaign, turning the protagonist’s heart condition into a smart in-game mechanic for truly dedicated players to take on as the ultimate challenge. Excitedly, another member of the press said, “Ooh, that’ll be a fun achievement to chase,” to which a developer quickly chimed in to say, “No, no. There’s no achievement. All achievements can be acquired on a single playthrough on any difficulty.”

This is a strategy I’ve heard quite a few times in 2026. Over the course of my numerous game studio visits this year, I’ve spoken with more and more developers who are intentionally curating their achievements list to be as approachable and inoffensive as possible. Why? Because they’ve learned that there’s a growing population of players who factor them into their purchasing decision – sometimes even opting to skip out on games they would have otherwise enjoyed if collecting all of the digital trophies isn’t a guarantee, or requires them to go out of their way.

The result of this threatens a landscape that’s worse for everyone, whether it’s players who have become increasingly invested in the treadmill of chores to complete or developers who have a financial incentive to design components of their game around the desires of the achievement-hunting community (undermining the entire point of achievements to begin with).

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