Name: Best Xbox Games of 2025
Uploaded: 2025-12-15T19:18:32.935Z
Duration: 8 min 42 s
Description: From sentient lighthouses to capitalists in space, these were the best Xbox games of 2025. There have been hits from Xbox Game Studios, great day-one third-party launches on Xbox Game Pass, and no shortage of great games to celebrate.

From sentient lighthouses to capitalists in space, these were the best Xbox games of 2025. There have been hits from Xbox Game Studios, great day-one third-party launches on Xbox Game Pass, and no shortage of great games to celebrate.

IGN reviewed the Xbox gaming landscape of 2025, a year marked by notable game releases, platform changes, and industry challenges such as price increases and layoffs. Despite these hurdles, Xbox users enjoyed a wide array of acclaimed titles, with IGN staff selecting the five standout games of the year.

Among the top picks were Hollow Knight Silksong, Split Fiction, Keeper, The Outer Worlds 2, and Claire Obscure Expedition 33. Claire Obscure, developed by Sandfall Interactive, was ultimately named Game of the Year for its artistic vision, engaging storytelling, and innovative gameplay, reflecting the strength and diversity of Xbox's 2025 lineup.

Best Xbox Games of 2025

It's tough to really wrap your head around 2025 for Xbox. There were some real hits from Xbox Game Studios, fantastic day one third party launches on Game Pass, then a whole lot of baffling moves as a platform, with multiple rounds of price increases, project cancellations, and layoffs. It was a year that constantly had our collective heads spinning. But eh, if you've been subscribed to Game Pass and playing on your Xbox Series X or S or PC or anything deemed an Xbox this year, there was no shortage of great games to celebrate. Here at IGN, we voted across several categories for our end of the year awards, including our shortlist of the five best games that landed on Xbox in 2025. And those votes have determined the one winner that represents the Xbox game of the year. With exclusives largely being a thing of the past, especially for Xbox, which published some high profile games on PS5 this year, our contenders are simply what's been available on the platform this year, regardless of exclusivity or publishing status. So let's get to it by first recognizing the honorable mentions that made Xbox's year one banger after another, and then revealing the best Xbox game of 2025. Developer Obsidian had an all-time year with three launches in 2025, all of which hit in different ways. It gave a jolt to start the year with a tightly packed fantasy RPG in Avowed to stave off the appetite for a new Elder Scrolls, then brought its co-op survival sequel into early access with Grounded 2, which got off to a great start. Compulsion Games weaved the unique artistic vision into A Love Letter to the American South with the action-adventure game South of Midnight, while id Software brought us back to Hell with a bit of a melee twist on its shooter roots in Doom the Dark Ages. If Avowed wasn't enough for you, we kicked it like it was 2006 in Cyrodiil with The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Remastered, which reminded us that Bethesda's long-running fantasy series had the sauce well before Skyrim. Then we busted out the notepads and corkboards for the roguelike puzzler Blueprints that hit Game Pass Day 1, but we also chomped at the bit for more stylish action after Ninja Gaiden 2 Black whet our appetite for Ninja Gaiden 4, which Xbox published for Team Ninja. Oh yeah, there's an Xbox handheld now with the Asus ROG Xbox Ally? Well, sort of. Rather, it's an Xbox-branded PC handheld that is arguably one of the best ones yet. And since everything is an Xbox now, it doesn't really matter where you play these hits. The sheer variety of games that launch under the Xbox banner this year was indicative of how vast and great the medium can be, and none represent that quite as well as our five best Xbox games of 2025. It seems that every year has an indie darling that folks rally around loudly, and Hollow Knight Silksong was certainly that game in 2025. The jokes about Silksong never coming out have been laid to rest, and Team Cherry's long development time resulted in a dense, daunting, and satisfying action-adventure or Metroidvania, if you will. While it hit Game Pass on launch, its impressive sales figures and $20 price tag made it the talk of the town, aside from being a wildly anticipated follow-up to Hollow Knight, of course. On its own merits, the dark and foreboding atmosphere matched the gruesome platforming challenges that made exploration more involved than many of its contemporaries. Hornet's traversal mechanics are smooth and had us flowing through Silksong's sprawling web-like map, leading us to some of the hardest-fought battles we've experienced this year. Being smart, nimble, and aggressive against tough and unpredictable bosses is the key to victory, but you have to stay committed and locked in try after try, even if the runback can be grueling. But for as punishing as Silksong may be, it's also frequently adorable, blessed with cute, memorable bug friends like Sherma singing his song, being a precious little boy. Coming off of It Takes Two, which swooped in to take the Game of the Year back in 2021 at the Game Awards, Split Fiction continued developer Hazelight's catalog of great co-op adventure games. Its premise, two novel writers trapped in their respective fictional worlds made manifest, paved the way for imaginative worlds and a mashup of gameplay mechanics and genres that was consistently exciting to play alongside a friend. Coordinating with your partner in puzzles, platforming, and high-speed action was a ton of fun as you phased in and out of fantasy and sci-fi worlds. Oftentimes it blends the two remarkably and packs references to reflect where its two protagonists, Mio and Zoe, are as creatives, and as any writer knows, that sometimes means they're not really creative themselves. But that's the thing about Split Fiction's message. Art doesn't always have to be good, but it's the process for which art is created that should be respected, and that it can't be treated as a commodity to be manufactured. And just when you thought you had Split Fiction figured out, its finale made for some of the most memorable sequences in recent memory, elevating the experience to become one of the best games of this year. If you haven't played it yet, find a friend, give them that free co-op pass that comes with the game, and see what it's all about. We hadn't heard from the team at Double Fine in quite some time after Psychonauts 2 headlined many best-of lists back in 2021, but this year we got a pleasant surprise in Keeper. Playing as a walking lighthouse may not seem too appealing on paper, but the Double Fine charm and distinct art style brought to life a world that was about showing rather than telling. Puzzles had us looking at the environments with intent, and the little interactions we had with the living in a seemingly abandoned world told their own tiny stories without having to say a word. Our review described Keeper as a psychedelic exploration of life packed into a brief runtime, and it's a prime example of what a studio can do when left to its own creative devices. It's easygoing and impactful, and one of the standouts of 2025. Back when we saw The Outer Worlds 2 for the first time in action earlier this year, we could tell it had the makings of a top-tier Obsidian RPG. We liked the original entry well enough, but it was just as much about creating a foundation for a new universe as it was the team trying to separate itself from Fallout while also building on the reputation it earned from New Vegas years ago. With this year's sequel, it was as if Obsidian recognized the shortcomings of The Outer Worlds and addressed almost all of them, ensuring it delivered what the studio is known for – dense, story-driven RPGs with a whole lot of interconnected systems that let you play how you want. There was a concerted effort in improving gunplay and melee combat, which went a long way in making encounters a lot more fun. But it's the deeper progression systems, along with intricate level design reminiscent of immersive sims like Deus Ex, that made the RPG experience feel so much more dynamic. The game itself observed how you play and offered tangible perks at the expense of some unusually creative debuffs as part of its flaws system, with each one offered based on your actions. Such a system is a microcosm of how The Outer Worlds 2 was better about accounting for your playstyle and showing you the consequences of how you interacted with its world. And with the universe still rooted in a dystopian satire, but with a good crew of companions and a tighter story told across much bigger worlds, The Outer Worlds 2 was Obsidian firing on all cylinders. Perhaps to the surprise of absolutely no one, Claire Obscure Expedition 33 is IGN's choice for the best game to hit Xbox this year. And if you were a Game Pass subscriber, you were treated to one of the best RPGs in recent memory on day one. In its debut as a development team, Sandfall Interactive drew inspiration from classic Japanese RPGs and looked at Final Fantasy X and Persona 5 directly, and told its own harrowing story about grief and the sometimes ugly ways it changes us. But while JRPGs are a clear influence, the studio's French roots are significantly responsible for making Claire Obscure what it is, from its artistic vision to its storytelling style, down to the music that both captured the hype of big boss fights and the atmosphere of its magical, painterly world. Like any great RPG, Claire Obscure gave you an intimate understanding of its characters, drawing you in and making you feel for them in their moments of triumph and despair. It's a credit to its strong writing and performances from an incredible cast that Expedition 33 is able to effortlessly pull you through all the wild twists and turns of its story. There's also a top-tier turn-based combat system with timing-based inputs for attacking and defending, and having that active element kept us locked in during each battle with an intensity you wouldn't feel otherwise. The intricate progression and customization for each character had us feeling like genius tacticians, creating the best builds for their unique moveset and mechanics. And damn does it look good when it all comes together. Claire Obscure is a great example of executing on a clear creative vision while recognizing what made its inspirations so great, and it very easily won the hearts and minds of us here at IGN. What was your favorite Xbox game of 2025? Let us know in the comments. And for more IGN Awards, you can check them all out here in one place, including our picks for the best PlayStation and Nintendo games of the year.

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Breakdown