Short answer, because it is the thing people are worried about: the trophies you have already earned are safe. They stay on your profile permanently, count toward your level permanently, and are entirely unaffected by a game leaving PlayStation Plus.
Trophies live on your PSN account, not inside the game and not inside the subscription. Nothing about losing access to a title reaches back and removes what you unlocked in it.
What you lose is the ability to earn the ones you have not got yet. For a trophy hunter, that is the part worth planning around.
What actually happens
When a Game Catalog title rotates out of PS Plus:
- Earned trophies: unaffected. Permanent.
- Your trophy list for that game: stays on your profile, showing whatever percentage you reached.
- Your save data: stays on the console. Not deleted.
- Access to launch the game: gone, unless you buy it.
So a 74% list sits on your profile at 74% indefinitely. That is not a loss of anything you earned; it is a completion you cannot finish without purchasing the title.
The trap: a long platinum on a catalog game
This is the practical risk, and it is entirely avoidable.
Catalog titles are announced as leaving with some notice, but not much, and a 60-hour platinum started three weeks before a departure date is a platinum you will not finish. Partial progress then sits visible on your profile permanently — some hunters mind that a great deal.
Before committing to a long completion on a catalog game, do two things:
- Check whether it is a Game Catalog title or a claimed monthly game. Monthly games you claimed are yours while subscribed, with no rotation risk. Catalog titles rotate. This distinction is the whole ballgame — see Game Catalog vs monthly games.
- Check the estimated hours to platinum. If completion time is longer than you are confident the game will stay available, either start immediately or wait until you own it.
Our trophy guides list estimated completion times per game, which is exactly the number this decision needs.
If you get caught mid-completion
Three options, in rough order of sense:
Buy the game. Often the cheapest resolution, particularly for an older title, and it converts a rental into permanent access. Physical copies of catalog games are frequently cheap second-hand.
Leave it unfinished. A partial list is not a black mark. Every long-standing profile has them.
Finish before the date. Viable only if the remaining work genuinely fits the time. Rushing a platinum you were enjoying is a poor trade.
The one thing that does remove trophies
For completeness, since it is the only exception: Sony removes trophies obtained illegitimately — modified saves, unlock tools, hacked consoles. That has nothing to do with PS Plus, and legitimate play is never at risk.
Our cheater leaderboard flags profiles whose timestamps show impossible unlock patterns, the same signature Sony acts on.
Frequently asked questions
Do I lose trophies if I cancel PS Plus?
No. Cancelling locks access to claimed and catalog games, but every trophy you earned stays on your account and keeps counting toward your level.
Does my save data get deleted?
No. Local saves stay on the console, and cloud saves persist for a period after a lapse. Reinstate access and you resume where you were.
Can I still see the trophy list on my profile?
Yes, at whatever completion percentage you reached.
Can I delete a trophy list I did not finish?
Only if it sits at 0% — a list with any earned trophy is permanent. See can you delete PlayStation trophies.
If I buy the game later, does my progress carry over?
Yes. Trophies and save data are intact, so you pick up exactly where you stopped.
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