The achievement system for Xbox consoles, dating all the way back to the launch of the cult-classic Xbox 360, has grown to be a staple of console gaming. Providing an overall tally of "gamerscore" to denote a tangible representation of how much time and effort a player has put into their account, Xbox achievements are undoubtedly addictive and satisfying to unlock.
That being said, there are some Xbox achievements that are notorious for pushing the boundaries of reasonable expectations and unlock difficulty. Aside from achievements that possess difficulty from the high level of skill needed to meet their unlock requirements, there are some achievements that take ludicrous amounts of real-world time to unlock, making them extremely rare badges of honor from those who have them.
The Stanley Parable Achievements
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A series of games that will instantly come to the minds of many gamers when thinking of achievements that take the longest real-world time to complete is the Stanley Parable games. The original version of Stanley Parable, which did not release for consoles, was infamous for having an achievement that simply required players to not launch the game for an eye-watering five years.
As this original version was not available on console, Xbox-based achievement hunters were initially spared the grueling wait for unlocking this cruelly comical achievement. However, the recent release of The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe has elevated this achievement-related gag to unthinkable new heights. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is essentially a "dramatically expanded" remake of the original game, which was recently released for Xbox consoles with Series X and S optimization.
With this fresh console release came a new list of attainable achievements for the title, with the achievement aptly named "Super Go Outside" being a new addition. Building upon the five-year-long achievement of its predecessor, "Super Go Outside" instead requires players to not launch the Deluxe Edition for a ludicrous ten years to meet its unlock requirements. Being worth 100 gamerscore, dedicated achievement hunters will lie in wait and hope they don't accidentally launch the game at some point over the next decade, lest they restart the process. In the meantime, there is another that requires players to play for 24 hours on a Tuesday. In other words, Stanley Parable achievements are ridiculously hard to 100%.
Gears of War Achievements
Another franchise that has become notorious for consistently possessing achievements that require serious dedication to unlock is Gears of War. Throughout the Gears games, the infamous "Seriously" achievements have served as a grueling and harsh challenge to even the most dedicated achievement hunters. Being an Xbox exclusive IP, these achievements will be all too familiar for long-standing users of the console.
The "Seriously..." achievement for the original Gears of War, which launched in 2006, sits at a respectable 50 gamerscore. However, this value quickly diminishes when the achievement's unlock requirements are taken into account. The achievement requires players to amass a staggering 10,000 kills in ranked multiplayer, which understandably warrants a considerable amount of time to unlock. The achievement amassed such notoriety within the Gears community that it would become a tradition within most of the subsequent titles.
Within Gears of War 2, an achievement by the name of "Seriously 2.0" was present to carry on the gag, and somehow pushed the boundaries of reasonable achievement hunting even further than its predecessor. "Seriously 2.0" requires players to achieve a total of 100,000 kills, although this is across all modes and not just restricted to multiplayer. Also being worth an underwhelming 50 gamerscore, it can take weeks or even months of dedicated grinding to finally unlock this coveted achievement.
For Gears of War 3, the "Seriously 3.0" achievement carried the torch and expanded upon the required dedication of the prior achievements. To unlock "3.0," players have to reach level 100 and unlock every single Onyx medal in the game. With there being a total of 65 Onyx medals, spanning a huge array of difficult challenges across all Gears of War 3's game modes, the 100 gamerscore for this achievement is reflective of the huge amount of time required to unlock it.
Dead Rising - 7 Day Survivor
Another classic achievement that has become storied within the Xbox discourse the original Dead Rising's "7 Day Survivor" achievement. Deceivingly simple in its description, the achievement requires players to survive for seven days without dying. With days in Dead Rising lasting two real-world hours, this achievement takes 14-hours of unbroken playtime without dying to unlock.
While only 14 hours may seem insignificant to the aforementioned achievements, the sheer scale of difficulty in surviving for that long while maintaining hunger and avoiding quite commonplace technical difficulties usually means that many unlock attempts will inevitably be made before being successful. Only being worth 20 gamerscore, it is obvious as to why the "7 Day Survivor" achievement has become as infamous as it has.
Mortal Kombat - My Kung Fu Is Stronger
A lesser known but just as time-consuming achievement lies within 2011's Mortal Kombat. The achievement in question is called "My Kung Fu Is Stronger," and only possesses a 0.31% unlock percentage for tracked Xbox Live users.
To unlock this achievement, players have to gain mastery of all fighters within the game. In total there are 27 playable characters within Mortal Kombat, and a litany of prerequisites have to be met in order to achieve mastery with each of them. To earn mastery, players will have to achieve 100 victories with a character, 100 fatalities, 150 landed x-rays, 10,000 pints of blood spilled, and 24 hours of playtime. Considering this has to be repeated 27 times, the sheer amount of real-world time and dedication needed to unlock this achievement is palpable to say the least.