Summary
- Unobtainable trophies in games can be caused by server shutdowns, glitches, or other reasons, preventing players from achieving full completion.
- Some games may have bugged trophies copied from different versions, leading to unobtainable achievements, frustrating players who are unable to earn them.
- Physical copies of games can sometimes allow players to bypass patches that break trophies, ensuring that they can still earn the platinum trophy.
If there's one thing that all achievement/trophy hunters hate, it's unobtainable trophies. It sucks on both sides, locking you away from that full Xbox completion or that juicy platinum trophy. No matter how much the achievement/trophy community complains about these bugged oddities, sometimes the developer or publisher just won't bother.
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PostsUnobtainable trophies can have a number of causes, from the servers shutting down, being glitched, or other strange reasons. Note that some unobtainable platinums can be earned through offshoot means, but as long as it's currently unobtainable in the latest version of a title in any region, it will count.
10 Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem
One Trophy Was A Big Mistake
Release Year
Platforms
2022
PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Coming nine months after the PC version, Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem was ported to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. With a huge enemy count, it pushes these systems hard. This is important to note, as some PC features were cut. One is the enemy multiplier option, which allows you to crank up the number of enemies to as high as your PC can handle.
Consoles would struggle so much from this, so it's an understandable omission. The problem is that, since the trophy list was copied from the PC version, you can't get one of them anymore. That trophy is Massacre Party, requiring you to beat a co-op campaign on Serious mode with the enemy multiplier set to times two. This baffling error still hasn't been fixed.
9 Haunted House
A Trophy List That'll Scare You Away
Release Year
Platforms
2023
PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Haunted House is a revival of the classic Atari 2600 horror game. Atari actually rebooted this IP several times throughout the years, but the 2023 version comes with a nasty side effect. That being glitched trophies. Three are bugged across both PlayStation and Xbox.
One for collecting all the Atari cartridges, another for getting all the kitchen utensils, and the final one for rescuing every cat. Even if you do these tasks, the trophies won't unlock. Haunted House is still pretty recent, so there's hope a patch may come in the near future.
8 FlatOut 4: Total Insanity
Hope You Have A Physical Copy
Release Year
Platforms
2017
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Sometimes, you can earn a platinum right at launch, but a patch may come that'll mess things up. That's exactly what happened with FlatOut 4 with the Jay Will Be Proud! trophy. This requires you to buy all the cars in the game, and one of them is bugged due to a patch.
Now, there are several back-end ways you can revert to version 1.0, but the easiest way is to simply platinum FlatOut 4 from start to finish using a disc copy. Like most PS4 games, the 1.0 version is the one included on-disc, and as long you don't install the patch, there are no worries. Thank goodness for physical media.
7 Max Payne 3
No Other Server Shutdown Feels Worse
Many platinums become unobtainable due to servers closing. It happens all the time if you follow trophy-hunting websites, but with those games that already have brutal single-player trophies, it especially hurts. Max Payne 3 has undoubtedly the hardest achievement/trophy in any Rockstar title.
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PostsThat being The Shadows Rushed Me, which forces you to beat New York Minute Hardcore mode. You cannot die a single time, and you must go fast here to beat the clock. This is especially brutal for a fast-paced action game like Max Payne 3, where so many things can play out differently. To get that trophy and realize you can't get any of the online ones to seize that platinum hurts so much more.
6 Mortal Kombat 9
Another Unfortunate Server Closure
Release Year
Platforms
2011
Xbox 360 (Series X|S Backwards Compatible), PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PC
The first Mortal Kombat game of the NetherRealm era was MK9. It's still a total joy to play today, minus the online portion. The Xbox 360 servers actually still work but are very unreliable. However, you can technically still get the online achievements, which can't be said on PlayStation.
PS3 servers are completely closed, which sucks due to MK9 having one of the most grindy trophies ever made. My Kung Fu Is Stronger requires a ludicrous amount of playtime for every character. The requirements are so big this trophy could take years, and you don't even get a platinum now with the servers gone. Unless you got the online trophies beforehand, there's no point in grinding this out today.
5 Fight Night Champion
Not Closed Servers, But Broken Ones
Release Year
Platforms
2011
Xbox 360 (Series X|S BC), PlayStation 3
EA went out with a bang on the final Fight Night title Fight Night Champion. So many improvements were added, including a story mode that's still fun to go through. Servers are still up on both platforms, so why is the platinum unobtainable?
The issue is one part of the game that's just plain broken. The Rival Gyms feature, at some point, just stopped working properly and hasn't been fixed in over a decade. With how long the wait has been, it's incredibly unlikely you'll ever see the issue rectified.
4 Big Buck Hunter Arcade
Regions Will Differ
Release Year
Platforms
2016
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
One of the oddest platinums ever is Big Buck Hunter Arcade, a port of the light-gun hit you'll see in nearly every arcade imaginable. You might think there's nothing wrong in getting this platinum. Indeed, if you live in North America, this platinum is achievable with no strings attached.
If you live in Europe or Australia, though, you're in for a world of hurt. Like many games, Big Buck Hunter Arcade needed a patch to fix glitched trophies. Somehow, this patch wasn't distributed to all regions. Considering region swapping is a much bigger pain on PlayStation than Xbox, this platinum won't be fun for those living in other countries.
3 Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising
The Quality Control GameMill Is Famous For
Release Year
Platforms
2022
PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC
There are certain games where an unobtainable platinum wouldn't be surprising. Given that Cobra Kai 2 is published by GameMill, the publisher behind Skull Island: Rise of Kong and Walking Dead: Destinies, you shouldn't expect high-quality control.
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PostsThere's a whopping six bugged trophies on the PS5 version. Six is a massive number if you're in the trophy-hunting community, and few games can match it. Even the Xbox version is screwed up, although only one achievement is broken. Given the publisher, don't expect a patch anytime soon or at all, for that matter.
2 Pro Deer Hunting 2
No Platinum To Catch Here
Release Year
Platforms
2021
PlayStation 4, PC
Hunting video games seem to have a knack for unobtainable platinums, as another is Pro Deer Hunting 2. As it's a bargain-bin digital-only PS4 title, it's surprising there's even a platinum at all. The trophy list is pretty easy, and it would be a free platinum to grab if it weren't for one glitched trophy.
That would be Quick Draw. For this, you must shoot a deer when it's leaping in the air, and no matter what you do, the trophy won't pop. It's understandable why this trophy would be bugged, considering the complex requirements. Still, it has yet to be fixed and likely will never be.
1 Pong Quest
Atari Strikes Back
Release Year
Platforms
2020
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Another Atari game with bugged trophies is Pong Quest. This is an RPG adventure title with classic Pong slipped into the mix, and it's an original concept. Reviews weren't kind to it, though, and neither were trophy hunters.
There's three glitched trophies here: Rising Infection, Ballistic, and Killer Pillars. While the last one is simple enough, the first two are quite a grind, making it even more frustrating that they don't pop. With the title launching in early 2020, a patch just won't come at this point.
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