How the rare Xbox achievement notification could have sounded
In 2016, Microsoft introduced rare achievements, which highlight if an achievement in a game has been unlocked by less than 10% of players who have started the title. Rare achievements get their own fancy notification and a rather prestigious chime that rings out when unlocked. However, the jingle that plays out could have been very different. Former Xbox exec Larry Hryb (Major Nelson), who worked on the achievement system, took to Instagram over the weekend to share one of the sounds Microsoft rejected for the rare Xbox achievement notification.
“When I was working on the Xbox rare achievement sound, we went through quite a few iterations,” Hryb said. “This was one we rejected. I think you’ll agree that was the right choice.”
After listening, you can see why Microsoft decided not to go with this sound. While it is short and sweet, it’s far too shrill and doesn’t really give off the feeling of prestige and accomplishment like the current rare Xbox achievement sound does.
Hryb says he’ll be sharing more “rejected audio” in the future, which could give us further insight into how he and the team came up with the rare Xbox achievement sound.
In other achievement news, expect 22 achievements to be discontinued in FIFA 22 when its servers are shut down later this year.