Insomniac Explains the Sad Reality Behind Retrospective Trophy Patches

Since trophies were added to the PlayStation Network in July 2008, PlayStation 3 owners of all shapes and sizes have expressed interest in older games having trophies patched in. Metal Gear Solid 4 has been the most popular item of interest, but Resistance: Fall of Man, the game that got the PS3 rolling into the next-generation, has been a major target as well. Now Insomniac Games has commented on the matter, and unfortunately it’s only bad news.

The PlayStation community showed a large amount of interest in retrospective trophies for Resistance: Fall of Man after the exciting Resistance bundle was announced. Senior community manager James Stevenson of Insomniac Games had the following to share:

Not nearly as easy as you think (involving re-opening long dormant code, assigning people to it, testing it, sending it through certification, etc etc) – meanwhile, all of those resources code, and are being used to make Resistance 3 the best game possible

After being called lazy, Stevenson replied:

It’s not lazy at all. The amount of resources to patch a AAA release, especially when you are talking massive cross-game trophy functionality, is much larger then something like a small downloadable title.

If it was at all feasible, we would do it. It would significantly take from Resistance 3, therefore we will not do it.

It’s probably accurate to say that the same applies to other games on the “please trophy patch” list. However, what about once the current project is finished? It’d be difficult for me to believe that all of the resources available are instantly moved to a new project and/or DLC. Trophy patches draw attention to not only a game, but the series as well, so here’s to hoping that Insomniac Games and other developers can find some spare time in their busy schedules to show trophy love.

TRENDING