No trophy patches coming from Infinity Ward, Insomniac or 2K Games

by Jem Alexander { Jul 3rd 2008 at 11:00AM }

After receiving word that Burnout Paradise creator Criterion Games and Uncharted's developer, Naughty Dog, were planning on supporting their games with trophies patches soon, we were getting quite optimistic about most games receiving the feature. Today, however, three developers have come out to say that they won't be doing so. Namely, Infinity Ward (Call of Duty 4), Insomniac (Resistance and Ratchet & Clank) and 2K Games (Civilization Revolution).

Both Infinity Ward and 2K Games posted the news on their forums, clearly stating that trophies will not be coming out for these titles. As for Insomniac, their Community Relations Manager, Bryan Intihar, responded to comments on the PlayStation Blog yesterday, stating that "currently, there are no plans to add trophies to R1 and RCF. Right now, our No. 1 focus is finishing R2 and making it the best game possible." If you're particularly optimistic, you can hope that they'll work on a patch after Resistance 2 is out. It would be nice, but we won't hold our breath.

Source - "No trophies in Call of Duty 4" @ InfinityWard.com
Source - Forum post @ 2KGames.com
Source - Bryan Intihar's comment response @ PlayStation Blog

[Via MCV]

Tags: 2k-games, infinity-ward, insomniac, trophies

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

reson8er @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:08AM

Honestly these are expected, as well as disappointing. BI really did not expect IW to do trophys, really they wont even add rumble, why would would anyone expect trophys?

I hope 2K includes trophies for BioShock.

adolson @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:29AM

You said exactly what I was going to say in the first part of your post. WRT BioShock, I'm pretty sure they've already dropped in Trophies, as the first leaked images were showing them off, and I'm pretty sure they weren't fakes.

Matt @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:20PM

Yeah, IW wasnt a surprise at all. Im assuming they wont be including in game music either.

glitched @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:22PM

Ok, i just read the 2k forum post about civ rev. seriously BOOOO. learn to make your customers happy 2k, tsk tsk.

reson8er @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:53PM

Yeah its really unfortunate, but not surprising :(

Hey adolson, mind if I add you to my FL on PSN?

Andrew Murray @ Jul 4th 2008 12:32AM

i know that you can get trophies only from super stardust right now but i was wondering if you can still get trophies from the demo because i dont want to drop like $10 for a game i might get bored of a couple days later. can anyone answer my question?thanks

macserv @ Jul 4th 2008 1:56PM

I don't mind them not being included, it's the attitude they're showing about it. One is saying, "It's Sony's fault for announcing them too late," and the other chimes in with, "We didn't like that feature when Sony told us about it before, and we're not going to add it now either, even if you want it."

Get real. All of these developers would add Trophy support if money and manpower were no object. If they want to say, "We just don't have the time or money to do that right now," I can respect that. It's the way business works, and it leaves the door open for possibilities later. The way *these* company representatives have responded to popular demand just infuriates me.

Gemini Ace @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:12AM

Any info on Unreal Tournament? It'll have achievements on the 360.

marklar @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:46PM

*everything* has achievements on the 360 - it's a requirement for all games

tan @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:59PM

@marklar

which is a good thing:)

Gemini Ace @ Jul 4th 2008 9:08AM

I know everything does. I have had a 360 since launch. My point is, they're adding them to the 360 version, so it stands to reason that they would retro-add them to the PS3 version.

jgpliskin @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:14AM

Kinda surprised Insomniac aren't adding trophies but I would have bet my PS3 on Infinity Ward leaving us cold.

Syn @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:22PM

The more companies that don't support trophies the better.

Achievement points are 'pointless'.

Skippy @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:32PM

@Syn - if you don't like them, ignore them. But don't rain on everyone else's parade.

tan @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:59PM

@syn

if you don't like them ignore them! there are plenty of people who like them.

@skippy

i agree.

Brodie-san @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:15AM

Who cares about trophies when we can't even download the firmware that supports it!?

Does anyone know what's going on with this ?

Sorry for sabotaging this thread but the level of customer communication coming out of Sony about this important issue is shockingly low.

Or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places?

When is 2.40 going to be made available again?

Tyler @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:18AM

When it stops breaking PS3s, probably. Mine luckily didn't require a hard drive format, but using the XMB in any voice-com enabled game breaks said voice-com until you completely restart the system. That and a couple random game crashes(that never crashed before) is all I have to show for it.

Ptrack_Git @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:17AM

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

King JMY @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:17AM

PS3 has really been getting the shaft when it comes to Infinity Ward, no rumble patch and no trophies. I'm pretty disappointed there are no trophies in R&C, there's a world of possibilities there.

Popfrogs @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:06PM

Yeah IW is lazy all the way around. They make the best FPS of all time then just go take a vacation in the Bahamas for a year.

wicko @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:47PM

Okay, you go spend 80 hour minimum weeks for a few months and then tell me you couldn't use a vacation.

tan @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:59PM

@popfrogs

they're probably hard at work on cod6;)

seffrythe @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:20AM

I did not take the time to find it but Insomniac had previously said they would support trophies in both R2 and R1. So now that the feature is actually here, I wonder why they have suddenly decided not to patch R1.

adolson @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:30AM

No, they didn't. That was a misquote. They corrected it shortly after.

Kevin @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:24AM

DAMN YOU INFINITY WARD.

No Rumble and now THIS!

juju187 @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:25AM

if i was a dev. i wouldnt take time out to create something that is belated, just so sony can take the credit.

Skippy @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:33PM

You would if it helped sales. Many people may buy the game now just get some more trophies.

I know I bought Super Stardust HD yesterday and I know I'm not alone.

uh-oh polio @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:25AM

This isnt a big deal to me, and i can understand the resistance and stuff going BACK to the game and implementing these into it. Especially when all of these companys have other priorities. As its been stated its optional for developers to add these into there games.

Shashwat @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:26AM

How hard is it to patch trophies? Isn't it a project fit for a summer intern or is it tougher?

Wael @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:26AM

this is really annoying...why r companies so lazy about trophies...didnt sony say that they provided all developers with the tool to add the trophies and it will take them half a day of work to add it?? what i understood is they only need to figure out what trophies to have and add trigers within the game...

even if they r busy as with insomniac trying to do the best they can with resistance 2 but one or two working on the trophy feature on old games shouldnt harm them...

i think if sony really wants the trophy system to work they should pay developers or provide them with extra set of hands to implement this feature...

on the other hand, i dont really know how the system works within these companies, but it is a real dissapointment to see such great games wont have trophies in them...

one more thing then i will shut my mouth...i think companies will really benefit from this feature...look at super stardust, am pretty sure that their sales went up yesterday as many gamers bought the game and its add-ons to get their hands on trophies...

i am really getting worried about trophies, i know it only has been a day since they r out, but it is an amazing feature and i dont want to see it go to waste...i spent almost all day yesterday playing with super stardust hd to get as many trophies as possible and am sure alot of u gamers out there were doing the same...lets just hope everything will get better....

Brodie-san @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:24PM

You make some good points.

Here are some of mine.

1) It's not just a case of a few hours to implement trophy support (aka let's throw it at the intern!). Even the smallest of updates will require the game to go through QA and RM (Quality Assurance and Release Management for those of you not in the IT biz). Therefor the "cost" of putting this enhancement together (when you take into account the discussions, meetings, documentation, support, handover, management etc.) is probably in the region of 20 - 30 man-days. This equates to a fiscal cost of about $20K - $30K - depending on who you've got on the project. This is known as "perceived loss" or "opportunity cost" as, though it doesn't really cost you this amount (as it's internal development) the developer could have been working on another project instead which generates profil for the company (like working on R2).

Long story short, it's not *that* cheap to implement trophies retrospectively.

2) I believe there is merit in putting trophies into old games. I mentioned this before so I won't go into all the details again but it really does drive advertisement for a sequel for a game if the previous rendition gets trophies - especially close to the release date of the sequel. Imagine R1 getting trophies two weeks before R2 is released. People by then will be in the throes of "score-wh0ring" (more than they are now as this new feature is still quite fresh) and will replay R1. This nostalgic event drives interest in R2. I don't think people re-playing R1 will all of a sudden want to buy R2 if they weren't planning to do so in the first place but, subliminally, connecting your audience to your new game (in as many ways possible) is a marketing staple.

In other words, with a sequel coming out I don't think Insomniac are going to rush trophies for R1. I *do* fully expect R1 trophies around R2's launch as a marketing ploy.

Interesting enough, I'm actually playing through R1 now for the first time. I'm in the tunnels beneath Nottingham. The Chimera are EVERYWHERE! :)

emaxximus @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:28AM

I wonder if we can expect this level of support when it comes to patches for custom music too. This is bullshizzel for rizzel.

dabamf @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:30AM

If you squint while looking at the trophy picture, you can see Strong Bad.

benjaamin @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:31AM

They've got your money and as such no longer care :( But whatever, I'm against giving developers even more work to do...

brettjr @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:34AM

Well trophies coming this late in the life is more of a nuisance to tell you the truth. I have 8 games and the majority won't be patched and the ones that will be will have to be replayed to get them, meaning in Uncharted when you searched your asses off to get all those treasures to unlike their version of achievements, you're going to have to create a new game just to get them all again and that's more of a bother. The only patch I"m looking forward to is Warhawk because your save game info is stored online so you can't put someone elses saves on your system and you'll get all the trophies you deserve, right away.

Archon @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:47AM

8 games? What kind of a Fanboy are you? :D

Eric E @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:35AM

Any Word on Folklore? That had a lot of DLC. My GF just started playing it and is getting further everyday. I need to know!

Farmer_Steve @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:37AM

Not surprised by Infinity Ward. They have the WORST customer support I've EVER seen.

Insomniac really disapointed me, I was expecting them to get them patched in.

I'm not real high on 2K games so my opinion would be biased so I just won't mention them.

Nick @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:38AM

I'd love to see Oblivion trophies. Bethesda/2K Games would just have to take the achievements from 360 and slap trophies on them instead. Of course some coding would have to be done and Bethesda is hard at work on Fallout 3, but I can always hope.

tkAshur @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:43AM

What? Oh poo. Well, is Insomniac saying no trophies for JUST Ratchet and Resistance? Didn't they make Calling All Cars? I was REALLY hoping for trophies in that...

JerJerBinks @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:28PM

I think Calling All Cars was designed by David Jaffe while he was still with Incognito.

Kruegmeister @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:47AM

It makes sense for them to not add trophies to any game with a sequel coming out.

You have extra incentive to Get MotorStorm2 vs keeping MotorStorm1 if 2 has added features.

Of course I will get MotorStorm2 for sure if it has the 4 Player Split-Screen that I have seen in Videos.

koehler83 @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:55AM

All we need now is to be shot down by Kojima and Rockstar and we've got a full fledged bomb of a feature.

I've now confirmed R&C is getting traded in.. I have no interest left in GTA4 either.

I would LOVE to keep playing MGS4.. but until I know what is happening one way or another, I dont see the point in trying to work toward any more emblems in that game.

Either way, I'd rather get a confirmed "No" than any kind of "Maybe"

Brodie-san @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:26PM

Eh, bomb of a feature ?

Future games are going to have trophy support!
Live in the future man! Not in the past!
:)

bayn @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:58AM

It just makes sense, trophies require time to figure out what will be a trophy first, then code it, then test it THEN release it.
Its not a 30min thing like some of you are thinking. These are businesses and they are working on other things.

Something like MGS4 tough should have trophies patched in since its a big AAA title but other titles from smaller developers or developers with not enough people to do the work may be too much for them to take on right now.

koehler83 @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:11PM

I think too many of you Xbots confused distaste for achievements with distaste for Gamerscore.

We've never had a problem with achievements.. in fact we've envied them from day one. We do have a problem with gamerscore and morons like you who will pay good money for a shit game with easy points. Go ahead and try and deny it, you're as transparent as a window.

Unfortunately, Sony decided to copy the gamerscore too.. I can't defend that.

xFenixKnightx @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:04PM

Hahahahahahaaaa, IW doesn't like PS3! No trophies for you guys! Its funny how all of a sudden all the "I dont need achievements" people out there are crying now. Lets see...

No rumble patch
No achievements
patches to fix the game on PS3 come AFTER 360
DLC maps came AFTER 360