Xbox Awards: Celebrating Players, Not Just Games

Xbox unveils unique Excellence Awards based on player engagement, store ratings, & sales! Avowed, South of Midnight & more coming in 2025. #XboxAwards #XboxGames #GamingNews

genji 6 days ago

Xbox Awards: Celebrating Players, Not Just Games

Xbox’s Excellence Awards celebrate player engagement, not just game accolades. Unlike traditional “Game of the Year” awards, these awards focus on four key metrics: Store Rating, Player Engagement, Daily Active Users, and Units Sold.

Award Categories

Store Rating recognizes the highest-rated content (minimum 500 ratings) across Microsoft and Xbox stores in 2024. Player Engagement measures games with the highest average hours played per player within the first six weeks of release. Daily Active Users highlights games, expansions, and updates with the highest single-day user count in 2024, including titles released before 2024. Finally, Units Sold lists top-selling content alphabetically, not numerically.

Upcoming Xbox Games

Xbox Games Studios has a strong 2025 lineup, starting with Avowed (February 18), followed by South of Midnight (April 8), and Doom: The Dark Ages (May 15). Third-party support includes Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (April 24) and Ninja Gaiden 4 (Fall 2025), both launching day-one on Game Pass.