Microsoft Lists Best Performing Games In Its 2025 ‘Xbox Excellence Awards’ For The Xbox Store

What makes this past year different for Microsoft compared to its competitors is the approach the platform holder is going with Xbox. The firm has faced a radical shift with its titles and how it amplifies its hardware. As a result, 2025 was the weakest year in return for the Xbox firm. But, there were still achievements that Microsoft has touted as well. Such as being one of the most profitable publishers in a previous financial report then.

Additionally, the Microsoft has also noticed that its titles are topping the leaderboards in multiple regions for the PlayStation Store as well. And, Xbox Game Pass faces its own heights as well with the newest titles on the subscription. In that, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was the biggest third-party title alongside Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 being the most-played on for the service too.

Now in 2026, the Xbox firm reflects on what deemed Xbox’s most popular releases as per activity on the Xbox Store. In its second annual Xbox Excellence Awards, it lists four categories: Store Rating, Player Engagement, Daily Active Users, and Units Sold. You can read the full list below:

Store Rating

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Crime Scene Cleaner
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2
Digimon Story: Time Stranger
Dreamcore
Dynasty Warriors: Origins
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
Final Fantasy XVI
Lies of P: Overture
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Little Nightmares III
Marvel vs. Capcom
Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
Minami Lane
Mullet MadJack
Poppy Playtime Chapter 4
Satisfactory
Silent Hill 2
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
The First Berserker: Khazan

Player Engagement

Borderlands 4
Digimon Story: Time Stranger
Dynasty Warriors: Origins
EA Sports College Football 26
EA Sports FC 26
Elden Ring Nightreign
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
Farm Together 2
Final Fantasy Tactics – The
Ivalice Chronicles
Helldivers 2
Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
MLB The Show 25
Monster Hunter Wilds
NBA 2K26
NHL 26
Rust
Satisfactory
The First Berserker: Khazan

Daily Active Users

Arc Raiders
Avowed
Battlefield 6
Borderlands 4
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
DOOM: The Dark Ages
Elden Ring Nightreign
Fortnite
Forza Horizon 5
Grand Theft Auto V
Grounded 2
Helldivers 2
Marvel Rivals
Minecraft
NBA 2K26
Rematch
Roblox
Rocket League
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

Units Sold

Arc Raiders
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Battlefield 6
Borderlands 4
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
EA Sports Madden NFL 26
EA Sports College Football 26
EA Sports FC 26
Elden Ring Nightreign
Grand Theft Auto V
Helldivers 2
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
MLB The Show 25
Monster Hunter Wilds
NBA 2K26
PGA Tour 2K25
Ready or Not
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
WWE 2K25

“The final list represents a diverse collection of titles produced by studios of wildly varying sizes. You’ll find 55 total games, with 16 currently available through Xbox Game Pass. It features 48 unique developers hailing from 13 countries, and brought to you by 24 publishers, alongside 19 self-published titles,” Daniel Lingen of Xbox Game Dev Advocacy penned.

“Taken as a whole, it’s an encapsulation of development on Xbox – we want gaming to reach you wherever you are, and for the teams making those games to find you from wherever they are.” One of the most recognized is PlayStation’s Helldivers 2. At release, the game was an instant hit as it swiftly took #1 on the Xbox Store back in summer 2025. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you surprised with this list revealed by Microsoft?

Source: Xbox Wire