At the core of our mission lies the desire to share the joy and sense of community that gaming brings to everyone across the globe. Today, more devices than ever before can transform into an Xbox, thanks to the rich variety of games crafted by talented developers worldwide. These creative minds are the architects of experiences that captivate and inspire gamers of every generation. To express our gratitude to these incredible developers and celebrate the games that have captured players’ hearts in 2024, we are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2024 Xbox Excellence Awards.
Each year, Xbox sees the launch of over a thousand new titles spanning consoles, PC, and the cloud. Though choosing the winners might seem like a simple task for a dedicated panel, the Excellence Awards are unique in that they really focus on how you’ve interacted with Xbox throughout the past year. We’ve pinpointed four vital categories that reflect the passion, engagement, and affection players have shown for these games. The categories are:
Store Rating: Celebrating the highest-rated content available on our platforms in 2024, each contender boasts a minimum of 500 ratings.
Player Engagement: Highlighting the games with the most impressive average hours spent playing per person within six weeks of launch.
Daily Active Users: Recognizing games, expansions, or substantial updates that achieved the highest number of active users on a single day in 2024. Some entries here weren’t released in 2024 but made the cut due to major updates last year.
Units Sold: Showcasing the best-selling games and content across Xbox and Microsoft stores.
This year’s final award list features a wide array of titles produced by studios of all sizes, from lean teams to expansive crews, spread across 15 countries. Below you’ll find the nominations for each category, listed alphabetically.
| 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 | Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero | EA Sports College Football 25 |
| Lollipop Chainsaw RePop | Farming Simulator 25 | EA Sports FC 25 | Dragon’s Dogma 2 |
| Metaphor: ReFantazio | House Flipper 2 | Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree | EA Sports FC 25 |
| Nobody Wants to Die | Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail | Fallout 4 | EA Sports Madden NFL 25 |
| Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1, 2, 3 | Forza Horizon 5 | Farming Simulator 25 | Metaphor: ReFantazio |
| Rounds | Grand Theft Auto Online | Fortnite | New World: Aeternum |
| Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II | Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 | NBA 2K25 |
| Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance | Marvel Rivals | Minecraft | NHL 25 |
| Skull and Bones | Path of Exile 2 | MLB The Show 24 | Palworld |
| Star Wars Outlaws | Phasmophobia | Roblox | Still Wakes the Deep |
| Unicorn Overlord | The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria | Rocket League | The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria |
Keep an eye out as developers and publishers will soon be receiving their well-deserved trophies, and it’ll be exciting to see how they celebrate this achievement!
Interested in joining the ranks of those who have helped these games become award winners? Visit the Xbox Store to check out our collection of 2024 Xbox Excellence Award-winning games.
