Soapbox: Xbox, Can We Please Stop Having Games With Random Achievement Numbers
Image: IsWalker on Reddit

I absolutely hate games that come packed with achievements outside multiples of five or ten - hate it. There's nothing worse than hearing that satisfying 'ding', only to be greeted with an achievement value of 16G. The system has been around since 2005 and we've seen it evolve in so many ways. Achievement tracking, unlock percentages, and rarity to name a few, but still we're seeing achievement lists boasting a range of seemingly random numbers and it's painful. It has to stop.

The most recent offender of this was Cyber Shadow on Xbox Game Pass, which I was immensely looking forward to - especially with its art style very reminiscent to The Messenger. As I booted the game up, I thought I'd take a quick peek at its achievement list (even though from the reported difficulty, I'd probably only be leaving with one or two). Low and behold, EVERY single achievement is outside of being a multiple of five or ten. 16G here, 31G there - not a single award balances out the overall number, meaning at the very least, I would need five achievements to balance out to my perfect, even number.

I quickly deleted Cyber Shadow.

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Now you may think it's weird or strange to hold achievement numbers to a high regard and over the years I've worked hard on not letting the carrot at the end of the stick influence my playstyle. Collectibles are no longer my priority and playing games on a lower difficulty, voiding potential other achievements, is fine by me now. But there's something about having a seven or a three at the end of my gamerscore that just refuses to sit well with me.

Mad Max was another offender, as it suckered me in with its "On the Road to Nowhere" achievement. It's awarded after travelling 1300 car lengths in a vehicle and sits at the random number of 8G. Why!? Outside of a few other achievements, the rest sit on multiples of five or ten. There was absolutely no reason for this and it stained my perfect achievement score I cherished so dearly. Sure, I could have easily gone and obtained the remainder of the random achievements, but it was unfortunately a game that I fell off of. To balance it out, I purposefully purchased Threes! and used a few of its obscure achievement numbers to bring me back on track. Don't judge me.

Maybe I shouldn't let achievement numbers infuriate me this much, but it seems like such a simple fix that would please a wide number of people. There's a whole achievement community out there that wince at the sight of these unpleasant numbers every time a list is revealed. Xbox, I love you, but can we please change this small detail? If not for me, then for the thousands of other achievement hunters out there who are also pained by this issue. Thank you.

Do you share similar sentiments? Let us know down in the comments below.