Announcing the Xbox Excellence Awards: Celebrating the Studios Behind Your Favorite 2024 Games

Bringing amazing games to players worldwide is our passion, and this year, we’re thrilled to spread that joy even further. With the rise in screen diversity, more devices are becoming Xbox-compatible, all lit up by the fantastic games crafted by developers from every corner of the globe. These creators have been working tirelessly to deliver gaming experiences that captivate and inspire people of all ages. To say thanks and highlight the games that truly resonated with players in 2024, we’re excited to reveal the 2024 Xbox Excellence Awards winners.

Each year, over a thousand games debut on Xbox consoles, PC, and the cloud. Rather than just appointing a committee to make the call, the Excellence Awards focus on your engagement with Xbox throughout the past year. We focused on four primary categories, reflecting players’ excitement and affection for these games. Let’s dive into these categories:

• Store Rating: Celebrating the highest-rated content released in 2024, backed by a minimum of 500 player ratings.

• Player Engagement: Recognizing games with the most average hours played per individual within six weeks of launching.

• Daily Active Users: Highlighting games, expansions, or major updates that boasted the most active users on a single day in 2024. Some may not have launched this year but were invigorated by major updates.

• Units Sold: Honoring the best-selling content across Xbox and Microsoft stores.

The resulting list showcases an eclectic mix of titles, developed by teams ranging from small groups to massive studios spread across 15 different nations. Below, you’ll find each category’s titles presented in alphabetical order.

Store Rating:

• Balatro
• Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
• Botany Manor
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Little Kitty, Big City
• Lollipop Chainsaw RePop
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Persona 3 Reload
• Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1, 2, 3
• Return to Grace
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
• The Outlast Trials

Player Engagement:

• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• Dragon’s Dogma 2
• EA Sports College Football 25
• EA Sports FC 25
• Farming Simulator 25
• House Flipper 2
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• New World: Aeternum
• Phasmophobia
• Pokemon: Blue Rescue Team
• Roblox
• Unicorn Overlord

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
• Marvel Rivals
• Minecraft
• Rocket League
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

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
• F1 Manager 2024
• EA Sports Madden NFL 25
• MLB The Show 24
• NBA 2K25
• NHL 25
• Path of Exile 2
• Palworld
• WWE 2K24

Developers and publishers can expect to receive their awards soon, so keep your eyes peeled for how they celebrate this achievement!

If you’re thinking about diving into these award-winning titles, head over to the Xbox Store and check out our curated collection of the Xbox Excellence Award 2024 winners. Happy gaming!