Announcing the Xbox Excellence Awards: Celebrating 2024’s Most Beloved Game Studios

At the core of everything we do is the mission to bring the exhilarating world of gaming to everyone, and with so many devices now capable of transforming into an Xbox, the gaming universe has never been so accessible. This universe flourishes with a vibrant array of games crafted by brilliant developers worldwide, providing experiences that captivate and inspire audiences of all ages. Today, we’re thrilled to honor these creators by announcing the winners of the 2024 Xbox Excellence Awards—our heartfelt thanks, and a spotlight on the games players adored this year.

With thousands of games hitting Xbox consoles, PCs, and the cloud annually, selecting winners could’ve been as simple as choosing a panel. But these awards are about celebrating how you’ve interacted with Xbox over the past year. We’ve pinpointed four essential categories reflecting players’ devotion and love for these gems. Here’s a peek at what we considered:

• Store Rating: The games that soared in our stores with top ratings in 2024, contingent on at least 500 ratings.

• Player Engagement: Titles that hooked players the most, measured by average hours per player within the first six weeks after release.

• Daily Active Users: Those games or updates that drew the most single-day players. Some aren’t even 2024 releases—they simply received an exciting update last year.

• Units Sold: The hottest-selling games across Xbox and Microsoft stores.

Our final roster is a testament to the incredible diversity of the gaming world, featuring works from teams ranging in size and based in 15 different countries. Below, you’ll find an alphabetically ordered list of the top contenders for each category.

Store Rating | Player Engagement | Daily Active Users | Units Sold

• Balatro | Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Apex Legends | 7 Days to Die
• Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden | Dragon’s Dogma 2 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
• Botany Manor | EA Sports College Football 25 | Dead Island 2 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth | EA Sports FC 25 | Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred | Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• Little Kitty, Big City | F1 Manager 2024 | EA Sports College Football 25 | Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
• Lollipop Chainsaw RePop | Farming Simulator 25 | EA Sports FC 25 | Dragon’s Dogma 2
• Metaphor: ReFantazio | Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail | Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree | EA Sports College Football 25
• Nobody Wants to Die | House Flipper 2 | Fallout 4 | EA Sports FC 25
• Persona 3 Reload | Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth | Fortnite | EA Sports Madden NFL 25
• Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1, 2, 3 | Metaphor: ReFantazio | Forza Horizon 5 | Farming Simulator 25
• Return to Grace | MLB The Show 24 | Grand Theft Auto Online | Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
• Rounds | NBA 2K25 | Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | MLB The Show 24
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II | New World: Aeternum | Marvel Rivals | NBA 2K25
• Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance | NHL 25 | Minecraft | NHL 25
• Sonic x Shadow Generations | Path of Exile 2 | MLB The Show 24 | Palworld
• Still Wakes the Deep | Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance | Palworld | Phasmophobia
• The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria | Skull and Bones | Roblox | Star Wars Outlaws
• The Outlast Trials | Star Wars Outlaws | Rocket League | The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
• Unicorn Overlord | Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 | S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl | Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
• WWE 2K24 | Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege | WWE 2K24

Watch out for developers and publishers to soon flaunt their well-earned trophies! Curious if you’ve been missing out? Check out our award-winning games collection for 2024, now available on the Xbox Store.