How Much Do Trophy Hunters Spend on Video Games Every Year?

Compared to most hobbies, video games are a relatively cheap pastime. A carefully-selected title can provide hundreds or even thousands of hours of enjoyment for $70 USD or less. And that doesn’t even take into account video games that thrive on a free-to-play model that can be fully experienced without spending a dime.

But what happens when someone takes the hobby to the extreme? Do hardcore trophy hunters spend significantly more money to stay on top of leaderboard rankings month after month? When the most die-hard players can cycle through a dozen games a day in pursuit of the largest amount of platinum trophies possible, there are bound to be fiscal consequences.

In this post, we explore how much trophy hunters spend to keep up with their hobby as compared to both the most hardcore and casual gaming markets. Our analysis is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to be a rigorous study on the topic. We make reasonable assumptions to calculate estimates where raw data is not readily available.

How does your spending stack up?

How Much Do Casual Players Spend on Video Games?

The average American gamer spends $76 USD per month on video games, or about the equivalent of a single full-priced AAA title over the same period. Although gaming has a relatively high start-up cost due to the requirement of a console or PC, the monthly cost is marginal when amortized over the entire 5-7 year period that the product remains relevant.

For a console that retails at $500 USD like the PlayStation 5, the monthly cost breaks down to approximately $6-10 USD per month. This number can be further diminished by delaying future console purchases for as long as possible.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American consumers spent an average of $3,635 USD for entertainment purposes in 2023, or the equivalent of $303 per month.

For people whose primary hobby is video games, that means you are likely spending up to 4 times less than the average American does for their hobbies. For particularly frugal gamers, the comparison is likely even better.

How Much Do Top Trophy Hunters Spend on Video Games?

But what about avid trophy hunters? Do they come out ahead compared to the average American consumer?

It depends on many factors, including the deeply personal philosophy of the trophy hunter in question. Top leaderboard positions are primarily held by players who chase after quick, easy platinum trophies that cost very little per unit. They rack up thousands of these cheap titles, which must mean they’re spending a fortune to keep up, right?

Let’s take a look at a randomly selected month for the current #1 player on PSN Profiles’ leaderboard: dav1d_123. In June 2025, this player earned 423 platinum trophies for an average of 14.1 platinum trophies every single day.

After perusing a handful of these titles, they seem to range anywhere from $1-5 USD. For our purposes, let’s assume the average spend per game is the middle of the range at $3 USD. Many of these titles have both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions at no additional cost. That means this player may have only needed to buy half of the games they earned platinum trophies in for that month.

That means they could have spent anywhere between $635-1,270 USD on games in just one month. This doesn’t account for any potential sales that may have helped reduce sticker shock.

With more than 15,000 platinum trophies unlocked over the last 15 years, the long-term rate suggests that this player has earned 1,000 platinum trophies annually, or 83 platinum trophies every single month since their very first trophy popped. It goes without saying that this level of dedication is an incredible feat the likes of which very few people could manage.

To be fair, our monthly estimate of $635-1,270 USD might be on the higher end of what is reasonable. It is possible that June 2025 was exceptionally productive for this player and may not accurately represent their typical platinum trophy acquisition rate.

If we take the lower long-term rate of 83 platinum trophies per month instead and calculate based on the assumed cost of $3 USD for these games, we’d get a range of $125-$250 USD spent per month solely on video game titles. This is far more reasonable, but still quite extreme for most gamers.

How Much Do Average Trophy Hunters Spend on Video Games?

Before we can break down how much the typical trophy hunter spends on their hobby, we need to agree on what it means to be “average.” In another discussion, I explored the various nationalities of a large sample of trophy hunters on PSN Profiles.

While seeking to answer where in the world trophy hunters are located, we selected the 250 players above and 250 players below our own position to be somewhat representative of the average trophy hunter. The average number of platinum trophies unlocked at this stage was 145.

In the absence of raw data from all of these players, I will supplement the following discussion with a deep dive into my spending habits and how they may stack up against the norm.

As a trophy hunter, I personally aim to unlock a platinum trophy approximately every two weeks, or 25 platinum trophies in a year. In 2024, I earned 36 platinum trophies, far exceeding my goal. I don’t sweat it if any game takes longer than I expect, but in general, that’s about the time frame when I start itching to complete something.

I’d suggest that my rate is fairly representative of the average trophy hunter. Not the hardcore leaderboard chasers, but rather those who value quality over quantity. I do not auto-pop platinum trophies, nor do I go out of my way to play shovelware titles.

But how does that translate into cash flow?

Let’s take the $76 USD value we discussed earlier. If we take this to mean that the casual gaming audience purchases about 1 full-priced title every month, it follows then that the average trophy hunter is likely spending twice as much—$152 USD—to complete 2 full-priced titles every month. This is still a far cry from the average American hobbyist spending of $303 USD per month.

Let’s not forget that this is likely a high-end estimate, too. Trophy hunters may spend less if they buy games on sale, opt for secondhand physical copies, or prioritize their backlog over new purchases.

Of the 36 platinum trophies I earned in 2024, only 9 were from games purchased in the same year. The remaining 27 were games from my backlog that were purchased years ago. I also picked up a handful of titles to partially replenish my backlog (included as a separate line item below). My actual trophy hunting expenses in 2024 were:

In addition to the above titles, I also spent approximately $60 USD on the PlayStation Plus subscription model. All told, I spent about $335 on my trophy hunting ambitions for the entire year. (This does not include any purchases on PC, Nintendo or Xbox, all of which I play far more casually.)

If we include the marginal costs of my PlayStation console and accessories, we can bump the annual expenditure up to a conservative estimate of $400 USD. On a per-month basis, that’s only $33 USD!

If I purchased all 36 games I earned the platinum trophies for in 2024 at the same time at market value, it would have cost a very rough estimate of $600 USD for the year. Accounting for all the other baked-in costs, that would break down to about $60 USD per month. Still, not too bad! According to my very off-the-cuff numerical analysis, I came out ahead thanks to some wise decisions.

Although I tend to be mindful of sales and try to focus on paring down my backlog, I am not perfect. For example, I bought Crymachina and the Apollo Justice trilogy at full price on release day. I was looking forward to both of these titles and was more than happy to pay the premium to play early.

It is entirely possible that other “average” trophy hunters may spend significantly more or less than I do. It vastly depends on the type of games they play, how patient they are in waiting for sales, and how big of a backlog they have in reserve.

Not to mention the fact that the PlayStation Plus subscription service offers non-picky players a small selection of free games to complete every month. On the higher tiers, they can even choose far more varied and numerous titles from the game catalog. This can be a great way to increase platinum trophy counts without spending an arm and a leg.

Conclusion

The answer to “how much do trophy hunters spend on their hobby?” is far more nuanced than one might expect. Truthfully, a player’s spending could range anywhere from $0-1,200+ USD every month, depending on a number of factors both within and outside their control.

For all but the most disciplined trophy hunters, it is an incredibly cheap hobby considering the hours of enjoyment you get for the price of admission.

Afraid of how much you’re spending on video games? Check out our article on money-saving tips tailored specifically for trophy hunters! I share everything I know about earning as many platinum trophies as possible on a budget.