Many trophy hunters are better described as leaderboard chasers. These players seek to earn mind-boggling amounts of platinum trophies to reach the highest point possible on online rankings. On an individual level, these players want to be the best.
But are they alone? On a global scale, how does each country measure up? Have you ever wondered whether or not your fellow countrymen are unlocking as many achievements as you are?
We ran the data on 3 different groups of trophy hunters based on their presumed dedication to the hobby and arrived at some interesting findings. In this post, you will learn what countries are most represented in the trophy hunting community, PlayStation Plus subscription rates among trophy hunters, and more.
Table of Contents
Methodology
The data was derived from the PSN Profiles leaderboard as of January 2025. Identifying information including individual username, score, and subscription status was stripped from each entry. Microsoft Excel was used to organize and present the data.
Although the PSN Profiles leaderboard distinguishes between players from Hong Kong and China, they were combined in our dataset.
The sample size for each group was 500 players, for a combined total of 1,500 accounts across 3 categories. There may be distortions in the data due to a small sample size, however, this sample was deemed sufficient for our purposes.
In cases where countries were tied in the number of trophy hunters, the order was randomly assigned.
The three groups were determined as follows:
- Top trophy hunters are the players with the highest rankings on the leaderboard. Among the top ten players, the average platinum trophy count was 11,940. For the top 500 players, the average platinum trophy count was 4,630.
- Average trophy hunters are users around the author’s scores. We looked at the 250 players above and 250 players below our position. Out of 5.4 million players on the leaderboard, this was around rank 42,000. The average number of platinum trophies unlocked at this level was 145.
- An argument can be made regarding whether or not this degree of dedication constitutes an “average” trophy hunter. This classification is intended to capture the group of players that demonstrably care about achievements, but do not necessarily go to the extreme lengths necessary to compete at the highest level. With that in mind, our selected group was deemed sufficient.
- Beginner trophy hunters are players with an average of 10-15 platinum trophies unlocked. Out of 5.4 million players on the leaderboard, this was around rank 500,000.
- This threshold was considered to be a sufficient barrier to entry for the trophy hunting community, as casual players are unlikely to earn this number of platinum trophies without concerted effort.
- Decreasing the platinum trophy threshold further would result in more false positives distorting the data. Casual players often earn many trophies due to high playtimes, despite not going out of their way to do so. That means they can sometimes take relatively high leaderboard placements despite not truly being members of the community. In selecting this threshold, we aimed to mitigate this problem while still capturing the spirit of an early trophy hunter.
Top 10 Trophy Hunters
| Rank | Country |
|---|---|
| 1 | Canada |
| 2 | France |
| 3 | Poland |
| 4 | Austria |
| 5 – 6 | Brazil |
| 7 | United Kingdom |
| 8 | Poland |
| 9 | Germany |
| 10 | Japan |
Top Trophy Hunters By Country
| Rank | Country | # of Trophy Hunters | % of Trophy Hunters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 80 | 16.0% |
| 2 | Germany | 72 | 14.4% |
| 3 | Japan | 40 | 8.0% |
| 4 | Brazil | 35 | 7.0% |
| 5 | United Kingdom | 34 | 6.8% |
| 6 | France | 28 | 5.6% |
| 7 | China | 24 | 4.8% |
| 8 | Spain | 17 | 3.4% |
| 9 | Poland | 16 | 3.2% |
| 10 | Canada | 14 | 2.8% |
| 11 | Netherlands | 12 | 2.4% |
| 12 | Australia | 12 | 2.4% |
| 13 | South Korea | 11 | 2.2% |
| 14 | Switzerland | 11 | 2.2% |
| 15 | Saudi Arabia | 11 | 2.2% |
| 16 | Russia | 9 | 1.8% |
| 17 | Austria | 8 | 1.6% |
| 18 | Belgium | 7 | 1.4% |
| 19 | Argentina | 5 | 1.0% |
| 20 | New Zealand | 4 | 0.8% |
| 21 | Italy | 4 | 0.8% |
| 22 | Czech Republic | 4 | 0.8% |
| 23 | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 0.6% |
| 24 | Singapore | 3 | 0.6% |
| 25 | Turkey | 3 | 0.6% |
| 26 | Taiwan | 2 | 0.4% |
| 27 | Ukraine | 2 | 0.4% |
| 28 | Peru | 2 | 0.4% |
| 29 | Kuwait | 2 | 0.4% |
| 30 | Mexico | 2 | 0.4% |
| 31 | Finland | 2 | 0.4% |
| 32 | Denmark | 2 | 0.4% |
| 33 | Thailand | 2 | 0.4% |
| 34 | Portugal | 2 | 0.4% |
| 35 | Slovak Republic | 2 | 0.4% |
| 36 | Norway | 2 | 0.4% |
| 37 | Luxembourg | 1 | 0.2% |
| 38 | South Africa | 1 | 0.2% |
| 39 | Croatia | 1 | 0.2% |
| 40 | Israel | 1 | 0.2% |
| 41 | Hungary | 1 | 0.2% |
| 42 | Malaysia | 1 | 0.2% |
| 43 | Ireland | 1 | 0.2% |
| 44 | Sweden | 1 | 0.2% |
| 45 | Chile | 1 | 0.2% |
| 46 | India | 1 | 0.2% |
| 47 | Greece | 1 | 0.2% |
Average Trophy Hunters By Country
| Rank | Country | # of Trophy Hunters | % of Trophy Hunters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 107 | 21.4% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 75 | 15.0% |
| 3 | Japan | 36 | 7.2% |
| 4 | Germany | 34 | 6.8% |
| 5 | Russia | 27 | 5.4% |
| 6 | Canada | 23 | 4.6% |
| 7 | France | 21 | 4.2% |
| 8 | Brazil | 19 | 3.8% |
| 9 | China | 15 | 3.0% |
| 10 | Italy | 15 | 3.0% |
| 11 | Spain | 13 | 2.6% |
| 12 | Poland | 12 | 2.4% |
| 13 | Belgium | 10 | 2.0% |
| 14 | Portugal | 9 | 1.8% |
| 15 | Netherlands | 9 | 1.8% |
| 16 | Australia | 9 | 1.8% |
| 17 | Austria | 6 | 1.2% |
| 18 | New Zealand | 5 | 1.0% |
| 19 | Mexico | 5 | 1.0% |
| 20 | Malaysia | 5 | 1.0% |
| 21 | Switzerland | 4 | 0.8% |
| 22 | Norway | 4 | 0.8% |
| 23 | Taiwan | 4 | 0.8% |
| 24 | South Korea | 3 | 0.6% |
| 25 | Hungary | 3 | 0.6% |
| 26 | Czech Republic | 3 | 0.6% |
| 27 | Ukraine | 3 | 0.6% |
| 28 | Argentina | 3 | 0.6% |
| 29 | Finland | 2 | 0.4% |
| 30 | South Africa | 2 | 0.4% |
| 31 | Sweden | 2 | 0.4% |
| 32 | Colombia | 1 | 0.2% |
| 33 | Qatar | 1 | 0.2% |
| 34 | Greece | 1 | 0.2% |
| 35 | India | 1 | 0.2% |
| 36 | Bulgaria | 1 | 0.2% |
| 37 | Denmark | 1 | 0.2% |
| 38 | Thailand | 1 | 0.2% |
| 39 | Kuwait | 1 | 0.2% |
| 40 | Ireland | 1 | 0.2% |
| 41 | Saudi Arabia | 1 | 0.2% |
| 42 | Slovak Republic | 1 | 0.2% |
| 43 | Croatia | 1 | 0.2% |
Beginner Trophy Hunters By Country
| Rank | Country | # of Trophy Hunters | % of Trophy Hunters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 169 | 33.8% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 51 | 10.2% |
| 3 | France | 38 | 7.6% |
| 4 | Germany | 29 | 5.8% |
| 5 | Japan | 26 | 5.2% |
| 6 | Canada | 22 | 4.4% |
| 7 | Italy | 21 | 4.2% |
| 8 | Australia | 17 | 3.4% |
| 9 | Brazil | 12 | 2.4% |
| 10 | Poland | 11 | 2.2% |
| 11 | Russia | 9 | 1.8% |
| 12 | China | 8 | 1.6% |
| 13 | Spain | 8 | 1.6% |
| 14 | Finland | 7 | 1.4% |
| 15 | Netherlands | 6 | 1.2% |
| 16 | Ireland | 6 | 1.2% |
| 17 | Belgium | 5 | 1.0% |
| 18 | Saudi Arabia | 5 | 1.0% |
| 19 | Mexico | 4 | 0.8% |
| 20 | Argentina | 4 | 0.8% |
| 21 | Switzerland | 3 | 0.6% |
| 22 | Turkey | 3 | 0.6% |
| 23 | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 0.6% |
| 24 | Chile | 3 | 0.6% |
| 25 | Portugal | 3 | 0.6% |
| 26 | Austria | 3 | 0.6% |
| 27 | South Korea | 2 | 0.4% |
| 28 | New Zealand | 2 | 0.4% |
| 29 | Singapore | 2 | 0.4% |
| 30 | Costa Rica | 2 | 0.4% |
| 31 | Czech Republic | 2 | 0.4% |
| 32 | Croatia | 2 | 0.4% |
| 33 | Ukraine | 2 | 0.4% |
| 34 | Sweden | 1 | 0.2% |
| 35 | Greece | 1 | 0.2% |
| 36 | Panama | 1 | 0.2% |
| 37 | Guatemala | 1 | 0.2% |
| 38 | Romania | 1 | 0.2% |
| 39 | Taiwan | 1 | 0.2% |
| 40 | India | 1 | 0.2% |
| 41 | Slovak Republic | 1 | 0.2% |
| 42 | Colombia | 1 | 0.2% |
| 43 | Hungary | 1 | 0.2% |
Analysis
Which Countries Have the Most Trophy Hunters?
The most frequently observed countries across the board were the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and France.
Although the United States was highly represented across all three groups of trophy hunters, not a single person in the top 10 is American. In fact, there are fewer and fewer Americans the more you climb the rankings.
Conversely, Japan and Germany see the opposite trend. Their countries are more represented the higher up in the rankings you are. That means there are relatively few beginner Japanese and German trophy hunters compared to their elite counterparts.
This table summarizes our findings for the top countries.
Proportion of Trophy Hunters by Group and Nationality
| Country | All Groups | Top | Average | Beginner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 23.7% | 16.0% | 21.4% | 33.8% |
| United Kingdom | 10.7% | 6.8% | 15.0% | 10.2% |
| Germany | 9.0% | 14.4% | 6.8% | 5.8% |
| Japan | 6.8% | 8.0% | 7.2% | 5.2% |
| France | 5.8% | 5.6% | 4.2% | 7.6% |
Which Continents Have the Most Trophy Hunters?
Although the United States has an advantage over other countries in the trophy hunting space, it’s a different story when you take a step back and look at the numbers on a continental level.
Out of 54 different countries in our data, 26 are European territories, 6 are North American territories, 14 are Asian territories, 5 are South American territories, 2 are Oceanic territories, and 1 is an African territory. Unsurprisingly, 0 trophy hunters hailed from Antarctica.
Combining the results of each European country pushes its continent’s standing well above the rest. Despite being represented by only 6 countries, North America still holds relatively strong due to the sheer number of trophy hunters from the United States.
Proportion of Trophy Hunters by Group and Continental Region
| Continent | All Groups | Top | Average | Beginner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | 47.3% | 48.0% | 51.6% | 42.2% |
| North America | 28.7% | 19.2% | 27.0% | 39.8% |
| Asia | 14.9% | 20.8% | 13.6% | 10.2% |
| South America | 5.7% | 8.6% | 4.6% | 4.0% |
| Oceania | 3.3% | 3.2% | 2.8% | 3.8% |
| Africa | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| Antarctica | – | – | – | – |
Which Countries Have the Most Trophy Hunters Per Capita?
Normalizing the data for varying country sizes yields some new insights. The United Kingdom has more than double the amount of trophy hunters than the United States per capita. Many European countries similarly punch above their weight class, including Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, and Finland. All of these countries outdo the United States on a per capita basis by 150-200%.
The below table summarizes the normalized data for a selection of countries.
Proportion of Trophy Hunters by Nationality (Adjusted for Population)
| Country | # of Trophy Hunters (All Groups) | Population (Millions) | Trophy Hunters Per Million |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 160 | 69 | 2.32 |
| New Zealand | 11 | 5 | 2.12 |
| Switzerland | 18 | 9 | 2.02 |
| Germany | 135 | 85 | 1.60 |
| United States | 356 | 345 | 1.03 |
| Japan | 102 | 124 | 0.82 |
| Brazil | 66 | 212 | 0.31 |
| South Africa | 3 | 64 | 0.05 |
| China | 47 | 1,419 | 0.03 |
| India | 3 | 1,450 | 0.00 |
China had fair representation across all 3 groups with more prominent positions in the top 500. However, their standing trends down considerably when viewing the data on a per capita basis. This makes sense when you realize that only 15% of Chinese gamers play on consoles. This diminutive figure combined with the fact that PlayStation is not the market leader for the region means that very few trophy hunters are from China.
Similarly, India saw very few trophy hunters across all groups (0.2%). Other countries with surprisingly few numbers compared to their population sizes were Turkey, Mexico, South Africa, and Thailand.
Which Continents Have the Most Trophy Hunters Per Capita?
Once again, the results compiled by continent rather than by country yield surprising results. In this case, Oceania stands out with an impressive showing despite its small population. When you break it down, it makes a lot more sense: New Zealand and Australia both have high rates of trophy hunters per million residents, and their combined population alone makes up roughly 68% of Oceania.
Given the high turnout for many European countries covered in earlier sections, its second spot placement on a per capita basis tracks. In addition, the 26 European countries present in our data account for approximately 95% of the continent’s total population. Above all else, trophy hunting as a hobby is incredibly consistent across Europe.
In stark contrast, only one African country appeared in our data: South Africa. South Africa’s population only amounts to 4% of the continent’s total population. A low rate of trophy hunters per million residents in South Africa plus so many populous countries not being represented in our data at all drops the continent’s position on a per capita basis sharply.
Proportion of Trophy Hunters by Continental Region (Adjusted for Population)
| Continent | # of Trophy Hunters (All Groups) | Population (Millions) | Trophy Hunters Per Million |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oceania | 49 | 47 | 1.05 |
| Europe | 709 | 743 | 0.95 |
| North America | 430 | 613 | 0.70 |
| South America | 86 | 436 | 0.20 |
| Asia | 223 | 4,807 | 0.05 |
| Africa | 3 | 1,515 | 0.00 |
| Antarctica | – | – | – |
How Many Trophy Hunters Subscribe to PlayStation Plus?
We also ran the numbers on how many trophy hunters subscribed to PlayStation Plus. Not surprisingly, the more serious of a trophy hunter you are, the more likely you are to subscribe to the service.
PlayStation Plus Subscription Rate Among Trophy Hunters
| Top | Average | Beginner |
|---|---|---|
| 86.2% | 76.6% | 67.6% |
According to Statista, 47 million users subscribed to PlayStation Plus in 2023 and 116 million registered accounts actively used their console in 2024. That’s an approximate 40.5% attachment rate for PlayStation users subscribing to the PlayStation Plus service. Across the board, trophy hunters exceeded this benchmark by a wide margin.
The below table summarizes the results for a selection of countries.
PlayStation Plus Subscription Rate by Group and Nationality
| Country | All Groups | Top | Average | Beginner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Australia | 90.4% | 100.0% | 88.9% | 82.4% |
| Germany | 86.7% | 93.1% | 91.2% | 75.9% |
| United Kingdom | 86.3% | 97.1% | 81.3% | 80.4% |
| China | 83.6% | 83.3% | 80.0% | 87.5% |
| United States | 76.7% | 78.8% | 82.2% | 69.2% |
| Japan | 75.2% | 90.0% | 77.8% | 57.7% |
| Brazil | 73.4% | 71.4% | 73.7% | 75.0% |
| Mexico | 51.7% | 50.0% | 80.0% | 25.0% |
| Russia | 7.4% | 0.0% | 11.1% | 11.1% |
The United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Australia all outperformed subscription rates across all categories of trophy hunters.
On the other hand, the United States lagged behind in the top bracket. Surprisingly, out of 80 top American trophy hunters, only 78.8% subscribed to PlayStation Plus.
Although Russian trophy hunters were fairly common (3.0%), incredibly few are subscribed to PlayStation’s subscription service. This is likely due to Sony suspending operations of its storefront for the country in March 2022 in response to global events.
Interestingly, across all groups, South Korean trophy hunters subscribed to PlayStation Plus at a 100% rate.
Limitations
Like any other research project, there are weaknesses in this study that should be considered. We urge readers not to take any statements presented above as fact, but rather as a means to encourage discussion and have fun.
- Small sample size: Compared to a presumed maximum of 5.4 million trophy hunters on the PSN Profiles leaderboard, 1,500 records is not a substantial proportion of the population. Performing analysis on a limited dataset means any attempts at generalizing findings to a wider population are less powerful.
- Sampling bias: Although care was taken in picking accurate representations of trophy hunting tiers, it is possible that the samples collected do not truly represent the broader population of those categories.
- Researcher bias: Caution was exercised in trying to highlight a wide variety of countries in the summary tables and accompanying discussions, but it is possible that some countries were underrepresented in the presentation of data. While unintentional, this could influence others’ interpretation of the results.
- Measurement errors: There may be errors present in the tabulation and calculation processes.
Conclusion
Trophy hunting is a hobby with an international presence. When we set up cooperative boosting sessions for online games, we should be aware that respondents will be from all over the world and act accordingly.
In our limited study, we discovered that European trophy hunters represent a considerable chunk of the community. On a country-by-country basis, the United States managed to sweep the competition. Additionally, PlayStation Plus subscription rates are much higher than the general population among trophy hunters of almost all nationalities.
Did any country’s placement surprise you? How well did your home country fare in the ratings? Let us know in the comments below! If you’d like more statistical breakdowns, check out my personal 2024 PlayStation Wrap-Up analysis next!
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