The Best Xbox Game of 2025

It's pugnacious to truly wrapper your caput astir 2025 for Xbox. There were immoderate existent hits from Xbox Game Studios, fantastic day-one, third-party launches connected Game Pass… and past a full batch of baffling moves from Xbox arsenic a platform, with aggregate rounds of terms increases, task cancellations, and layoffs. It was a twelvemonth that perpetually had our corporate heads spinning. But hey, if you've been subscribed to Game Pass and playing connected your Xbox Series X/S (or PC, oregon thing deemed an Xbox) this year, determination was nary shortage of large games to celebrate.

Here astatine IGN, we’ve voted crossed respective categories for our extremity of the twelvemonth awards, including our shortlist of the 5 champion games that landed connected Xbox successful 2025. Those votes person determined the 1 victor that represents our prime for the champion Xbox crippled of the year. With exclusives mostly a happening of the past now, particularly for Xbox – which published immoderate high-profile games connected PS5 this twelvemonth – our contenders are simply what's been disposable connected Xbox consoles this year, careless of exclusivity oregon publishing status.

So, let's get to it by archetypal recognizing the honorable mentions that made Xbox's twelvemonth 1 banger aft another, and past revealing the Best Xbox Game of 2025.

Honorable Mentions

Obsidian had an all-time twelvemonth with 3 launches successful 2025, each of which deed successful antithetic ways. It gave a jolt to commencement the twelvemonth with a tightly packed phantasy RPG successful Avowed to stave disconnected the appetite for a caller Elder Scrolls, past brought its co-op endurance sequel into aboriginal entree with Grounded 2, which got disconnected to a large start. Compulsion Games weaved a unsocial creator imaginativeness into a emotion missive to the American South with the action-adventure crippled South of Midnight, portion id Software brought america backmost to Hell with a spot of a melee twist connected its shooter roots successful Doom: The Dark Ages. If Avowed wasn't enough, we kicked it similar it was 2006 successful Cyrodiil with The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, which remindeding america that Bethesda’s long-running phantasy bid had the condiment good earlier Skyrim. We busted retired the notepads and corkboards for the roguelike puzzler Blue Prince that deed Game Pass connected time one, but we besides champed astatine the spot for much stylish enactment aft Ninja Gaiden 2 Black whet our appetite for Ninja Gaiden 4, which Xbox published for Team Ninja. Oh yeah, and there's an Xbox handheld present with the Asus ROG Xbox Ally – well, benignant of; alternatively it's an Xbox-branded PC handheld, that is arguably 1 of the champion ones yet. And since everything is an Xbox now, it doesn't truly substance wherever you play these hits. The sheer assortment of games that launched nether the Xbox banner this twelvemonth was indicative of however immense and large the mean tin beryllium – and nary correspond that rather arsenic good arsenic our 5 champion Xbox games of 2025.

Runner-Up - Hollow Knight: Silksong

It seems that each twelvemonth has an indie darling that folks rally astir loudly, and Hollow Knight: Silksong was surely that crippled successful 2025. The jokes astir Silksong ne'er coming retired person yet been laid to rest, and Team Cherry's agelong improvement travel resulted successful a dense, daunting, and satisfying action-adventure – oregon "metroidvania", if you will. While it deed Game Pass connected launch, its awesome income figures and $20 terms tag made it the speech of the town... speech from it being the wildly anticipated travel up to Hollow Knight, of course.

On its ain merits, Silksong's acheronian and foreboding ambiance matches the gruesome platforming challenges that marque its exploration much progressive than galore of its contemporaries. Hornet's traversal mechanics are creaseless and volition person you flowing done Silksong's sprawling, web-like map, starring you towards immoderate of the hardest-fought battles we've experienced this year. Being smart, nimble, and assertive against these pugnacious and unpredictable bosses is the cardinal to victory, but you indispensable enactment committed and locked in, effort aft try, adjacent if the runback tin beryllium grueling.

But for arsenic punishing arsenic Silksong whitethorn be, it's besides often adorable, blessed with cute, memorable bug friends similar Sherma, who sings his opus and is mostly a precious small guy!

Runner-Up - Split Fiction

Coming disconnected of It Takes Two, which swooped successful to unafraid Game of the Year backmost astatine The Game Awards 2021, Split Fiction continues developer Hazelight's catalogue of large split-screen co-op escapade games. Its premise – 2 caller writers trapped successful their respective fictional worlds made manifest – paves the mode for imaginative worlds and a mashup of gameplay mechanics and genres that are consistently breathtaking to play alongside a friend. Coordinating with your spouse successful puzzles, platforming, and high-speed enactment is simply a ton of amusive arsenic you signifier successful and retired of phantasy and sci-fi worlds. Oftentimes it blends the 2 remarkably well, and packs successful references that bespeak wherever its 2 protagonists, Mio and Zoe, are arsenic creatives (and, arsenic immoderate writer knows, that sometimes means they’re not precise originative themselves.)

But that's the happening astir Split Fiction – creation doesn't ever person to beryllium good, but it's the process done which creation is created that should beryllium respected, and that can't beryllium treated arsenic a commodity to beryllium manufactured. And conscionable erstwhile you deliberation you had Split Fiction figured out, its finale delivers immoderate of the astir memorable sequences successful caller memory, elevating the acquisition to 1 of the champion games of this year. If you haven't played it yet, find a friend, springiness them the escaped co-op pass, and spot what it's each about.

Runner-Up - Keeper

We hadn't heard from the squad astatine Double Fine successful rather immoderate clip aft Psychonauts 2 headlined galore champion of lists backmost successful 2021, but this twelvemonth we got a pleasant astonishment successful Keeper. Playing arsenic a walking lighthouse whitethorn not look excessively appealing connected paper, but the Double Fine charm and chiseled creation benignant brings to beingness a satellite that's astir showing alternatively than telling. Its puzzles person you looking astatine the environments with intent, and the small interactions you person with characters surviving successful a seemingly abandoned satellite make tiny stories without having to accidental a word. Our reappraisal described Keeper arsenic "a psychedelic exploration of beingness packed into a little runtime" and it's a premier illustration of what a workplace tin bash erstwhile near to its ain originative devices – it's easygoing and impactful, and 1 of the standouts for 2025.

Runner-Up - The Outer Worlds 2

Back erstwhile we saw The Outer Worlds 2 successful enactment for the archetypal clip earlier this year, we could archer it had the makings of a top-tier Obsidian RPG. We liked the archetypal introduction good enough, but it was conscionable arsenic overmuch an effort to make a instauration for a caller beingness arsenic it was the squad trying to abstracted itself from Fallout and physique atop the estimation it earned from New Vegas years ago. With this year’s sequel, it seems arsenic if Obsidian recognized the shortcomings of The Outer Worlds and has addressed astir each of them, creating a sequel that delivers what the workplace is known for: dense, story-driven RPGs with a full load of interconnected systems that fto you play precisely however you want.

There's a concerted effort to improving gunplay and melee combat, which goes a agelong mode successful making its convulsive encounters a batch much fun. But it’s the deeper progression systems, on with intricate level plan reminiscent of immersive sims similar Deus Ex, that makes the wide RPG acquisition consciousness truthful overmuch much dynamic. The crippled itself observes however you play, and offers tangible perks astatine the disbursal of immoderate unusually originative debuffs arsenic portion of its Flaws system, with each 1 offered based connected your actions. Such arsenic strategy demonstrates successful microcosm however The Outer Worlds 2 amended accounts for your playstyle and shows you the consequences of however you interact with its world. And with a beingness inactive rooted successful dystopian satire, but with a bully unit of companions and a tighter communicative told crossed overmuch bigger worlds, The Outer Worlds 2 is Obsidian firing connected each cylinders.

Winner - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Perhaps to the astonishment of perfectly nary one, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is IGN’s prime for the champion crippled to deed Xbox this year. And if you're a Game Pass subscriber, you were treated to 1 of the champion RPGs successful caller representation connected time one.

In its debut arsenic a improvement team, Sandfall Interactive has drawn inspiration from classical Japanese RPGs (looking astatine Final Fantasy 10 and Persona 5 directly) to archer its ain harrowing communicative astir grief and the sometimes disfigured ways it changes us. But portion JRPGs are a wide influence, the studio’s French roots are importantly liable for making Clair Obscur what it is, from its creator imaginativeness to its storytelling style, close down to the unqiue euphony that some captures the hype of large brag fights and the ambiance of its magical, painterly world.

Like immoderate large RPG, Clair Obscur strives to springiness you an intimate knowing of its characters, drafting you successful and making you consciousness for them successful their moments of triumph and despair. It’s a recognition to the studio's beardown penning team, and performances from an unthinkable cast, that Expedition 33 is capable to effortlessly propulsion you successful done each the chaotic twists and turns of its story.

There’s besides a top-tier turn-based combat system, bolstered by timing-based inputs for attacking and defending. That progressive constituent keeps you locked successful during each and each conflict with an strength you wouldn’t consciousness otherwise. The intricate progression and customization systems for each quality marque you consciousness similar a genius tactician, creating the champion builds for their unsocial moveset and mechanics. And damn does it look bully erstwhile it each comes together. Clair Obscur is simply a fantastic illustration of executing connected a wide originative imaginativeness portion simultaneously recognizing what made its inspirations truthful great. And it precise easy won the hearts and minds of america present astatine IGN.

What was your favourite Xbox crippled of 2025? Let america cognize successful the comments, and beryllium definite to ballot successful the canvass astatine the apical of this page! For much IGN awards, you tin cheque them each retired successful 1 spot here, including our picks for the champion PlayStation and Nintendo games of the year.

Michael is the tech reviews exertion astatine IGN, but regularly contributes to games sum with reviews, features, and news.