It’s been a rough generation for Xbox fans. After quickly falling behind to Sony’s PlayStation 4 in the current console generation, Microsoft has fought diligently to make up ground over the past few years. With the addition of Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft is evolving the way we consume games, allowing players to experience some of its best games of the generation as a monthly game subscription.
While the future is looking bright once again for Xbox, it’s made some missteps along the way, from the Kinect 2.0 to many highly anticipated games being canceled. Generally, PlayStation is regarded as having significantly better first-party exclusives, but from a critical standpoint, they score much closer than you’d think. Sony’s first-party efforts for PlayStation 4 average out to a review score of 8.0, while Microsoft isn’t far behind with its 7.7 average rating. We’ve compiled every Xbox One exclusive review and ranked them accordingly to show which Xbox One games are truly the best of this generation.
Please note: this list contains every Xbox-owned first-party exclusive either developed or published by Xbox Game Studios. Games that have recently launched on other platforms (such as Cuphead or Ori and the Blind Forest), or timed exclusives (like Outer Wilds or Rise of the Tomb Raider) are excluded. Subsequently, games that are available on PC via Xbox Game Pass are included, while games that are available on Steam or Epic Games Store are not included. Games that launched cross-platform and are available on Xbox 360 (such as Titanfall) are also not included in this list.
Click through the gallery above to view every IGN-reviewed Xbox One exclusive, or scroll down to read through the list, sorted from lowest score to highest.
Here’s how they rank:
17. Fighter Within - 2.8
T-16. Crackdown 3 - 5.0
T-16. Super Lucky’s Tale - 5.0
15. Crimson Dragon - 5.9
14. Ryse: Son of Rome - 6.8
T-13. D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die - 7.0
T-13. Halo Wars 2 - 7.0
T-13. Powerstar Golf - 7.0
T-13. Sea of Thieves - 7.0
T-12. Kinect Sports Rivals - 7.3
T-12. ReCore - 7.3
11. Dance Central Spotlight - 7.4
T-10. #IDARB - 7.5
T-10. State of Decay 2 - 7.5
T-9. Project Spark - 8.0
T-9. Quantum Break - 8.0
8. Dead Rising 3 - 8.3
7. Killer Instinct - 8.4
6. Fru - 8.5
5. Forza Motorsport 5 - 8.8
T-4. Forza Motorsport 6 - 9.0
T-4. Gears 5 - 9.0
T-4. Halo: The Master Chief Collection - 9.0
T-4. Halo 5: Guardians - 9.0
T-4. Rare Replay - 9.0
T-4. Sunset Overdrive - 9.0
T-3. Forza Motorsport 7 - 9.2
T-3. Gears of War 4 - 9.2
T-2. Forza Horizon 3 - 9.5
T-2. Halo: The Master Chief Collection (2019 Review) - 9.5
1. Forza Horizon 4 - 9.6
Xbox Game Studios has doubled-down on their first-party efforts in recent years by scooping up some talented studios to help bolster their lineup including Ninja Theory, developers of the recent Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Double Fine Productions (of Psychonauts fame), and Obsidian Games, creators of Fallout: New Vegas and the recent hit The Outer Worlds. Matt Booty, who oversees Xbox Game Studios, has said Microsoft plans to continue acquiring studios in order to diversify their first-party games and create experiences that will appeal to everyone in some way.
With conversation ramping up around Project Scarlett and Xbox’s next-gen efforts, it’s worth noting that there are still some big games still due out for Xbox One including Halo Infinite, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, a Battletoads reboot, and more. Things are finally starting to look up for Xbox fans...at long last.
Matthew Adler is a Freelance Journalist and Xbox Game Pass aficionado. You can follow him on Twitter @matthewadler or watch him on Twitch.