At the core of our mission lies the dedication to connect everyone with the joy and vibrant community of gaming. Today, more screens than ever can transform into an Xbox, lit up by an outstanding range of games crafted by gifted developers across the globe. These creative teams are responsible for delivering unforgettable gaming experiences that captivate and inspire players of all generations. As a way to express our gratitude to these developers and cast a spotlight on the games that captivated players in 2024, we’re thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2024 Xbox Excellence Awards.
With thousands of games launching each year on Xbox consoles, PC, and the cloud, determining standout titles could easily turn into a simple panel decision. However, the Excellence Awards focus on how players have interacted with Xbox over the past year. We used four key categories reflecting players’ passion, engagement, and affection for these games to compile this list. The categories include:
- Store Rating: Top-rated content in our stores released this year, requiring at least 500 ratings.
- Player Engagement: Games with the highest average hours played per user in the initial six weeks of release.
- Daily Active Users: Games, expansions, or significant updates boasting the highest single-day active users in 2024. Some of these were updated rather than newly released last year.
- Units Sold: Top-selling content on both Xbox and Microsoft platforms.
The ultimate list showcases a varied mix of titles produced by studios ranging from small teams to large corporations, scattered across 15 different countries. Here’s a glimpse at the titles in each category, ordered alphabetically:
Store Rating:
- Balatro
- Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
- Botany Manor
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- Little Kitty, Big City
- Lollipop Chainsaw RePop
- Nobody Wants to Die
- Persona 3 Reload
- Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1, 2, 3
- Return to Grace
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
Player Engagement:
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard
- Dragon’s Dogma 2
- EA Sports College Football 25
- EA Sports FC 25
- EA Sports Madden NFL 25
- Farming Simulator 25
- House Flipper 2
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- New World: Aeternum
Daily Active Users:
- Apex Legends
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Dead Island 2
- Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
- Fallout 4
- Fortnite
- Forza Horizon 5
- Grand Theft Auto Online
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Units Sold:
- 7 Days to Die
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- EA Sports College Football 25
- EA Sports FC 25
- EA Sports Madden NFL 25
- Farming Simulator 25
- MLB The Show 24
- NBA 2K25
- NHL 25
Developers and publishers will soon receive their trophies, so keep an eye out for how they choose to celebrate! Wondering if you should join the ranks of players who helped these games become award winners? Dive into our collection of Xbox Excellence Award-winning games for 2024 available on the Xbox Store.
