However, the latter serves as the MVP when it comes to overall hardware spending. At $248 million, it’s up 16 percent over the previous year, which was enough to offset declining sales for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 1. The fact that it achieved this while ranking second in dollar and unit sales is equally impressive.

The only new game release was Bandai Namco’s Code Vein 2, which reached 11th in the overall charts. However, it topped the PC sales chart that considered all storefronts. Perhaps even more surprising is that Final Fantasy 7 Remake re-entered the top ten charts, going from 225th place in December 2025 to ninth, thanks to its Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 ports.

If that’s not a good sign that Square Enix made the right move to go multiplatform with the trilogy, we don’t know what is. The next entry, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, is out on June 3rd for both platforms.

The post is a the latest iteration of the Xbox Excellence Awards, which was created last year to celebrate how players engaged with various releases on Xbox. The Store Rating category lists 2025 games with the best ratings on the Microsoft Store, with an added requirement of the title having at least 500 ratings. Player Engagements is about the average number of hours spent on a game by each player within the first six weeks of a game’s release. Daily Active Users celebrates titles, expansions or updates with the highest single-day active users throughout the year. And finally Units Sold is fairly self-explanatory.

Going down the lists, you’ll find many of the biggest releases of the year, from ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6, as well as award-winning RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Indie titles have also been well-represented, with games like Crime Scene Cleaner and Satisfactory making it into the lists. There also doesn’t seem to have been a singular genre to dominate the lists, since everything from sports games like EA Sports Madden NFL 26, to fantasy adventure life sims like Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and even fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics are well represented.

Curiously, none of the games was present in all four of the categories. At most, we got to see titles like Borderlands 4 being able to make it on to three of them: Player Engagement, Daily Active Users and Units Sold. Even ARC Raiders, which has seen quite a bit of success, is only on the Units Sold and Daily Active Users lists.

Microsoft has also emphasized that the lists represent a diverse collection of games developed by studios of varying sizes. All in all, it represents 48 unique developers based out of 13 countries, with 24 publishers having had a hand in their release. 19 of the games were self-published. “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,” wrote the company.

Full list of games:

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

Why is that a problem? The Call of Duty App doesn’t just include Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, which launched last year to underwhelming reviews due to its campaign. It also tracks Black Ops 6, Warzone, the Modern Warfare series, and much more. Keep in mind that these player counts follow Holiday discounts and even a free week. The sad part is that this isn’t even the lowest in the past week, as it reached 39,015 peak concurrent players on January 8th.

Of course, none of this changes the fact that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 topped last November’s US sales charts (even if Battlefield 6 emerged as the top-selling premium game of 2026). Engagement with the app on consoles in the region was also as strong as ever, only lagging behind Fortnite and eking out ahead of Grand Theft Auto 5.

Nevertheless, Activision has pivoted significantly by announcing that it would no longer release back-to-back Modern Warfare and Black Ops titles. “We will drive innovation that is meaningful, not incremental. While we aren’t sharing those plans today, we look forward to doing so when the time is right.” Its developers have apparently been building the “next era of Call of Duty,” and judging by the current release cycle, it may be Modern Warfare 4.

In the meantime, check out our review for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 here. We gave it a five out of ten for the multiplayer (despite netcode and hit registration issues), and Zombies (despite the overtly safe gameplay loop). The campaign is an utter disaster, but at least Treyarch released an update to let you skip it and go straight to Endgame.

The difference comes down to scale, with Söderlund noting that Embark Studios would have to expand massively just to be able to compete with Activision and EA. However, the studio didn’t want to go down that route, and decided that refining its development pipeline and building tools would have been a smarter way to go while still maintaining a smaller team.

“To start a new studio from scratch and to compete with the likes of EA and Activision and others, if you follow traditional development methodologies, you’re going to have to have five, six, seven hundred people,” he said. “We didn’t want to be that, we couldn’t afford that many people, and we didn’t believe that was the way to get to the right type of innovation and quality.”

“So when we started Embark, we spent the first seven to 10 months conceptualising ARC Raiders and most of the time we spent on production methodologies and building tools and pipelines to change the way games were being developed. With the ambition of being substantially faster in developing games, so that we could compete with these big publishers but with a substantially smaller team.”

Former CEO of parent company Nexon, Owen Mahoney, also commented on Embark Studios’ decision to focus on its developmental tools and production methodologies, noting that the studio was “super intentional” in its decision to not go for a big team too fast.

“You guys were super intentional in that if we have too big a team, it gets very hard to run, we can do a lot with software,” said Mahoney. “And you were also very clear that you wanted to build something different.”

In the same interview, Söderlund had also spoken about ARC Raiders‘ focus on fostering more friendly interactions between players rather than promoting competitive gameplay. He noted that this was the big reason behind features like leaderboards not coming to the extraction shooter.

“We’ve had several discussions about Nemesis systems and all types of things,” he said. “I don’t know where the team are on them right now. I think one of the beauties of this game is the fact that we don’t have those leaderboards, and it’s not competitive.”

“We don’t want to necessarily foster that type of gameplay. The game isn’t about shooting other players. You can do that if you want to, but the ethos of the game has never been to go in and shoot players. It’s a part that we use to craft tension.”

He also went into detail about the PvE roots of ARC Raiders, since that’s what the title was initially announced as, and discussed how adding other players to the same match helped a lot in creating and establishing a sense of tension.

ARC Raiders is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more details.

Taking into account that Grand Theft Auto 6 was originally slated for release in Fall 2025 before being hit with a couple of delays, Söderlund spoke about waiting for Rockstar Games to announce a proper release date so that Embark Studios could avoid it. He noted that GTA 6 was the only unknown variable in discussions about ARC Raiders’ release date, with the studio having “a pretty reasonable hunch” that Battlefield 6 would be coming out during the same window, and Call of Duty would be following its yearly release cadence.

“When we spoke about whether we should move the game, the first dialogue we had was obviously centred around GTA,” said Söderlund. “We did not want to be close to them. I don’t think anyone wanted to be close to them. And we were waiting for them to announce when they were releasing, and once that became clear, we then felt we could build a date. We had a pretty reasonable hunch that Battlefield was coming around the time frame, we knew that Call of Duty was going to ship roughly when it did because it always does.”

Ultimately, ARC Raiders being released between Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was an intentional decision by Embark Studios. “It was absolutely something we did intentionally,” he said. “As we started to see more of Battlefield 6, we thought that looked good; we didn’t see much of Call of Duty. But at the end of the day, we felt that the game was ready to be launched.”

The more unique gameplay offered by ARC Raiders when compared to EA’s and Activision’s multiplayer shooters was what gave the studio the confidence to come out between the two titles.

“We had a long, long conversation about [changing the release date], and we came to the conclusion after going back and forth that we believed we had a game that was very strong,” Söderlund explained. “We also believed that we could get to a place where we could be competitive in a different way. We, of course, didn’t think it was a Battlefield in that way, but that the game had enough uniqueness that it could stand on its own legs.”

“We felt that the game was offering something very different from what those other games were, and we also had very strong KPIs from our last technical test, and we did a final test of the game just before launch, which we called Server Slam, gave us more data to feel comfortable with launching.”

ARC Raiders is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more details, check out our review. Also check out what Söderlund said about making ARC Raiders a $40 release, his thoughts on competitive features like leaderboards, and potential TV and film adaptations of the extraction shooter.

With that being said, there’s always a lesson or two to be learned from adversity, and it’s always good to take a look at where things went wrong and how they can be improved. To that end, we’ve put together a list of events in the gaming world that garnered quite a response from the gaming community, and not in a good way. Let’s dive right in!

1. GTA 6 Delayed To November 2026

We’re sure you saw this one coming and thought it best to get it out of the way early. It’s always a bummer when a highly anticipated title faces a delay, and that becomes a lot worse to bear when that title has been a very long time in the making.

While we’re not going to hold a grudge against Rockstar for this one, as we suspect that the delay is only going to make the final game even better, it still rankles to know that there’s still such a long way to go before we get to dive into what we’re sure is a banger from the studio.

2. Microsoft’s Xbox Hardware Price Hikes

The Xbox hasn’t had a great run in the last few years, and Microsoft certainly didn’t help its case when it hiked the prices on Xbox consoles and a few games in May of last year. While we’re not going to get into the politics that are rumored to be behind the decision, it certainly wasn’t great news for Xbox fans in the market for a new console, with the flagship Series X’s prices going up by around 22% – a significant increase on a console whose popularity has been gradually eroding away.

However, Microsoft might not be entirely to blame for the situation; it was a choice that still didn’t sit well with many, never mind the fact that the PlayStation also saw its prices increase as a response.

3. Price Hikes On PlayStation Hardware In Some Regions

In Europe, the UK, and Australia, Sony hiked prices on the PS5 Digital Edition by around 10%, the reason given being economic turmoil around the world. It’s probably not as bad as the hike on Xbox consoles but is still quite an increase on an already pricey machine despite the excellence it brings to the table.
We’re just glad that the PS5 Pro remained unscathed through it all, and Sony probably deserves a bit of praise for managing to keep things under control for the most part.

4. Game Pass Price Increase

It wasn’t just consoles that saw unpopular price hikes, with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate becoming dearer by quite a significant margin, prompting backlash from existing and potential subscribers. Despite Microsoft issuing a statement saying that such occurrences were “never fun for anybody”, it didn’t help with stopping a string of cancellations as frustrated gamers decided to speak up against the price hikes with their wallets.

We’re just glad we didn’t have to deal with the consequences of the decision, as things certainly got nasty.

5. Sony’s PS Plus Pricing Hike

Sony’s PS Plus wasn’t safe from global economic conditions either, and the service saw price hikes in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Once again, Sony must be commended for restricting the fallout of turbulence in global supply chains, but the price hikes were still quite unpopular among gamers.

It’s interesting to see how Sony managed to keep things in control in comparison with Microsoft, but the price hikes did raise concerns about the value of gaming on consoles versus the same costs on a PC. That’s an interesting facet of this equation that does merit close observation over the next couple of years, and the Steam Machine’s debut might be quite a twist in this tale.

6. AI In Video Games

Generative AI made things quite complicated for a few studios in 2025, with many players and critics calling out its use in video games as a step in the wrong direction. A great example would be ARC Raiders, where lines of NPC dialogue being handled by AI received quite a bit of backlash and review bombing on what was an otherwise solid game. And we suppose there’s no need to mention the controversy surrounding The Alters, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Fortnite.

7. Call of Duty Black Ops 7

While disappointment with the annual Call of Duty franchise has become something of a recurring tradition, it wasn’t really surprising to see Black Ops 7 fall as flatly as it did. The story, gameplay, and overall presentation failed to gain the momentum needed to stop the franchise’s slump, and the game has been among our worst shooters of 2025 thanks to the likes of ARC Raiders.

Some might be holding out hope that the franchise can turn things around with subsequent instalments though, but that’s looking pretty unlikely now.

8. Mario Kart World’s Hefty Price Tag

Mario Kart World was certainly incredible, and a great title to show off what the Switch 2 could do. But its pricing left a bitter taste in the mouth of those who bought it, and perhaps even put off some players who might have otherwise chosen to dive in.

While an $80 price tag on an excellent game might be palatable to people who want quality, it did raise concerns about a new pricing standard that could isolate quite a few gamers whose budgets might not allow them to pick up great games consistently.

9. Industry Wide Layoffs

There’s a long list of studios that have been shut down, and teams that have faced layoffs over a variety of factors. Studios like Monolith, whose Nemesis System is now probably locked away in a vault somewhere, are great examples of talented teams who were unfortunately let go thanks to a variety of factors.

2025 also saw layoffs across Electronic Arts, Supermassive Games, People Can Fly, Amazon Games, and several others, with thousands of developers ultimately losing their jobs. Here’s hoping that all of the talented folks who were affected it managed to land on their feet.

10. MindsEye

Boy, was this one an annoyance. We went into MindsEye expecting great things from Build A Rocket Boy but were left with a bitter taste in our mouth after its lifeless world, lackluster story, and uninspired combat. This was a game that should have been so much more, and was perhaps the most egregious fail that 2025 brought to the gaming world.

The studio’s response to the criticism aimed at their debut title was also quite lacking, showcasing a poor attitude that did it no favors, and perhaps can act as a lesson to other studios whose offerings fail to get off the ground at the outset.

11. Monster Hunter Wilds PC

This one’s another instance of a disappointing end to a very long wait. With Worlds being as good as it was, Wilds should have been a sequel that took the popular franchise from the developer to new heights. And while the game did manage to put up a good show on consoles, its PC performance left players quite irate with the studio thanks to its poor optimization.

Frame rate issues, poor VRAM optimization, crashes, stutters, and so many more problems ruined what should have been an incredible time hunting monsters in visually stunning environments. This one’s a classic example of a game that should have been more popular right off the bat but was let down thanks to its problems. We’re happy it managed to get back on track though, somewhat.

12. Where Winds Meet’s UI Issues

If you’ve been with us for a while, you already know that Where Winds Meet has been quite a surprise for all of us who got to play it. However, its UI is one area that could certainly use some polish. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that it’s so confusing it runs the risk of making its players miss important parts of its gameplay loop, and needs to do better and communicate all of the myriad systems it contains.

This isn’t a game-breaking problem but it does need to be addressed nonetheless considering the amazing quality of everything else on offer in the experience.

13. Valorant’s Text Verification

Valorant might be among the best esports shooters out there, but that might have worked against the game in this particular instance. With Riot Games aiming to minimize cheating within the game and requiring users to use multi-factor-authentication to be able to play the game, it was obvious that there was going to be a bit of backlash.

With accounts being tied to specific mobile numbers and stringent checks against shady practices, players with multiple accounts who actually played the game without resorting to malpractices were forced to adhere to the new rules. Although necessary, it could still be seen as uncomfortable. We’re all human, after all.

14. Lacking Features At Launch

Several titles released with content that wasn’t available at launch, causing dissatisfaction among players thanks to how crucial they were to their overall enjoyment of the game in question. Borderlands 4’s excellent visuals might have tempted many of its players to take a break and grab some awesome shots of its world, but the lack of a Photo Mode at launch made that an area of frustration.

Ghost of Yotei should have had a New Game+ mode from the very start but that wasn’t the case. Its distinct lack of enemies out in its open world after you finished its story should have been a reason to have the option to get right back into the action but at least it’s there now for those who want it. Several other titles had notable omissions that had us scratching our heads at why they weren’t in the game in the first place.

15. Cancelled Projects

Sony pulled the plug on Bend Studio and Bluepoint Studio’s live-service projects in its pivot towards more profitable (and probably safer) ventures, while Microsoft also cancelled Everwild and Perfect Dark, both of which seemed like solid additions to their respective lineups of titles.

It’s always disappointing to see games with potential be denied the chance to show what they have but it is what it is.

And that’s a wrap on some of 2025’s failures that had gamers shaking their heads at dismal decisions and poor execution of great ideas. Here’s to hoping that 2026 manages to make lists like these a lot shorter!

But as much as we hate to say it, there are a few titles that just didn’t click, and now have the dubious distinction of forming the lower end of the year’s releases. Let’s jump into which of this year’s games have made the list, and why.

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

With fatigue having set into the franchise for a while, a lackluster campaign, and some heavy competition in the form of Battlefield 6, Ark Raiders, and Ready or Not, Blacks Ops 7 has failed to breathe new life into the franchise, and has plummeted to being the lowest-ranked Call of Duty entry in history.

Despite its emphasis on a more tactical gameplay loop this time around, Blacks Ops 7 has ultimately failed to bring any meaningful innovations that can make it stand out in a long list of titles from a franchise that could use a bit of course correction. That’s especially disappointing in a year where some excellent shooters have made their presence felt.

2. Sacred 2 Remaster

While the original game might have been considered innovative at the time of its release, this remaster’s insistence on preserving the original experience has largely backfired thanks to the passage of time. Sacred 2’s clunky mechanics and dated visuals needed more than a fresh coat of paint, and it’s a game that’s going to be played only for its nostalgia factor.

Although it did many cool things with its setting and world, it simply doesn’t measure up to scrutiny today. The world may be unique enough to give this one so replay value, but every playthrough is such a chore that it could be very tempting to drop off the game and move on quite quickly. This one should have been a remake if it were to have had any chance at succeeding among a very discerning crop of modern gamers.

3. Double Dragon Revive

Basic combat, finicky targeting, horrendous character models, and a failure to live up to the promise of a series that had been dormant for over a decade, this one was all kinds of wrong for both franchise fans and newcomers alike. Its drab environments and lack of the flair that makes a fighter special made this one a very forgettable experience that quickly gets boring.

And don’t get us started on the platforming sections. We’re all for a challenge in our games but bad design being a part of that challenge is a recipe for frustration , not engagement. While it all could have been salvaged by some awesome combat, there were only so many times we could punch the air before giving up on it all.

What’s sad about this one is that it had the potential to be all that it promised. Countering enemy Aura attacks with a Special Attack of your own was quite satisfying but the minuscule timing window on those parries made pulling them off rely more on luck than on skill. As a fighting game, this one should have been very different, and so much more than it was.

4. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

Combining a vampire adventure with a setting that pushes you in the direction of an investigation just like a detective sounds like a great concept, doesn’t it? However Bloodlines 2 fails to capitalize on that premise. Its emphasis on sending you all around its admittedly well-crafted world does little to disguise the fact that its exploration is just unrewarding.

While the setting on offer is reasonably good, the combat is too clunky to be entertaining and this is a game that simply doesn’t click on any level. It can even get tedious from moment to moment if you don’t try and diversify what you’re doing. In a year where Ghost of Yotei gave us a more nuanced take on detective work alongside a brilliant combat system, this one is sadly relegated to the shadows.

5. Game of Thrones Kingsroad

With honestly terrible recreations of popular characters from the franchise, and a gameplay loop that doesn’t stay as entertaining as it is after the initial thrills of being let loose in Westeros in a well-crafted RPG world wear off. Bad character models, visual glitches, and a progression system that actively worked against players looking to make progress were factors that broke the spell of some solid visuals.

The combat gets repetitive too quickly, and as an RPG, having to manage menus more than your character arc was a drag. Kingsroad is an ambitious attempt to bring a popular franchise to life in the gaming world, but unlike its presence in other media, this take on Westeros fails to be one to draw the masses.

It’s disappointing to place this one among 2025’s non-preformers but Kingsroad is one that’s better avoided thanks to the journey being too uninteresting to be relevant.

6. Drag x Drive Review

A reasonably good gameplay loop and solid performance on the Switch 2 might have been factors being praised if this one had managed to be more interesting. With its innovative use of the Joy-Con 2’s mouse mode, Drag x Drive Review could have been on the frontline’s of the console’s initial push into popularity after its launch.

But its high skill ceiling and unfamiliar control schemes work alongside a lack of content to keep things interesting to wall off most players from being incentivized to keep pushing forward through its gameplay loop until they get to the meat of why it can be enjoyable in the first place.

However, if you’re looking for a fun, unique 3v3 online title to dive into with your buddies, this one might just be worth picking up on sale when the chance comes along.

7.Killing Floor 3

While the legacy this one carried might tempt you to give it a go, you’re quickly going to find out that Tripwire Interactive failed to capitalize on the valuable feedback it received during the closed beta it held for it. While it can be fun on occasion, and even shines brightly when your plans for the chaotic decimation of Zeds line up well, its lack of content makes it too forgettable to be worth it.

For a game meant ot be played with friends or as a team, its solo survival mode might just be the most entertaining thing it has to offer. There was too little synergy between its playable classes for it to sustain any sort of engagement its initial hours might have garnered, and the lack of enemy types and bosses at launch meant that it soon became a rampage without consequences once we got used to its mechanics and combat.

All in all, there was a lot to like but too little of it to make Killing Floor 3 a game that holds its own against the year’s heavyweights, or enough to ensure it stayed off this particular list. Tough luck, though.

8. Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror

In a genre where the world you craft is as much a part of the experience as your story and gameplay, Behind the Broken Mirror’s poor level design and a fairly predictable and uninspired story made it rank low among the year’s best horror experiences.

Frustrating puzzles peppered a progression path that was often blocked thanks to a lack of clarity on potential solutions stemming from poorly designed levels. It often felt like the game was working against us to be as frustrating as it could be, instead of with us to be entertaining instead.

The story is similarly all over the place, and you’re better off not joining Eliza on her journey to regain her lost memories.

9. MindsEye

In the end, MindsEye’s gorgeously crafted world was ultimately where its ambitions went to die. As if its lackluster story, subpar combat, and uninspired game design weren’t enough, the game’s AI was simply not up to the standard of a 2025 release. Policemen would walk idly by while you slaughtered an enemy in front of them, while the lack of life along the streets you go along made the entire experience feel like a massive letdown.

It’s a world that feels empty despite how its vibrant colors and futuristic buildings immediately stand out as soon as you see them. But MindsEye sadly doesn’t populate that world with enough life to make it matter to its players.

Making things worse was the lack of effective damage control from Build a Rocket Boy, and the eventual promise of a roadmap of fixes has ultimately failed to grab any attention. It’s a pity, but MindsEye is among the biggest failures of 2025 as far as gaming is concerned.

10. La Quimera

It’s a solid premise for a shooter. Its absolutely dystopian premise and environmental storytelling might have been the stuff of a legendary game. But Reburn’s Early Access version of a solid idea does nothing to make this game worth your time.

Its story fails to raise the stakes enough to make you care, which is quite surprising considering the setting it takes place in. Its combat is similarly vanilla, giving you farily powerful weapons and linear levels in which taking down enemies quickly became routine instead of a fight for survival in which either side could end up losing.

And in what’s going to be our top pick for most annoying mechanic of the year, your mercenary’s pockets only let you carry a limited amount of money. That’s counterproductive to the nature of your work, isn’t it? La Quimera makes too many of these blunders to be close to the experience it could be as it stands today.

11. Solo Levelling: Arise Overdrive

While its visuals and excellent audio design might have you believing that this one is worthy of the anime that inspired it, you’re going to want to temper your expectations with Solo Levelling: Arise Overdrive if you’re a fan or someone with a passing interest in what it has to offer.

It’s a story wastes the potential set up by the level designs, while bosses waste its combat system’s potential by having massive health bars whose only effect is that they make each one outstay their welcome. Despite a lot of depth, this one simply fails to make use of its strengths enough for it to be worth a shot.

And that’s a wrap on the year’s titles that might have been more than what they are if things had turned out different. We’re hoping that the talented teams behind these titles lift their chins up and come back stronger than ever with new projects in the years to come.

However, in a change from previous years, it’s not the best-selling premium title for 2025 (ending November 29th). That went to EA’s Battlefield 6 with NBA 2K26 and Monster Hunter Wilds occupying the second and third spots. Black Ops 7 is in seventh place, just ahead of, conveniently enough, Black Ops 6.

Other notable titles in the top ten include Borderlands 4 at fourth place, EA Sports College Football 26 in fifth and Madden NFL 26 in sixth. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered occupied ninth place, followed by Ghost of Yōtei.

Returning to November’s sales, it was a surprisingly rough month for Nintendo Switch 2 releases as Kirby Air Riders and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment debuted in tenth and eleventh, respectively. Of course, that doesn’t include digital sales.

However, the message brings to light a problem that showcases that perhaps Activision and the developers need to take a step back and re-evaluate a strategy that clearly isn’t working for them. But what was the mistake that has managed to elude the attention of the team? Why does it spell bad news for the franchise?

We’re diving into all of that as we break things down, and explore why Call of Duty might just be headed for further disasters down the line. Let’s jump in!

Damage Control Gone Wrong

Addressing the miserable reception, the developers released a message for its community. Despite all the usual promises of making things better, there was a particular focus on something which makes us uneasy about the future of COD. Things started off well enough with the developers assuring players that they are going to try making Black Ops 7 “one of the best shooter games”, even throwing in a free trial of the game’s multiplayer modes along with a Double XP weekend.

That’s all well and good. It’s probably going to bring a few players to the table. Everyone loves free stuff, after all. The promise of seasonal support is also quite alluring, along with the assertion that player feedback is going to shape the course of how things are made for the game. Up until this point, this is a step in the right direction, showcasing how the team behind the franchise’s content understands what its players want and is willing to commit to fixing its mistakes. Credit where it’s due.

But things don’t get better with the next statement. Speaking about future titles in the franchise the developers have stated that they would “no longer do back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games…to ensure we provide an absolutely unique experience each and every year”. We’re sure that you, like us, have already spotted the glaring issue with this declaration. There is still going to be a new Call of Duty game every year. Player fatigue is a real thing, but the people behind the Call of Duty franchise seem to assume that it’s a myth. While flipping between various subseries within the franchise could certainly allow for some variety, it’s the fact that the franchise is going to stick to its annual release schedule that has us worried.

It’s a statement that undercuts everything good about the recent update, pinpointing a distinct lack of objectivity in the evaluation of player feedback. Yes, switching things up year after year could let the developers flex their creative chops a little more. But hasn’t the team considered what it could achieve with more time, allowing it to truly focus on delivering on its promise of driving innovation that is “meaningful, not incremental”?

If you’re thinking that switching between subseries is going to be a smart play for the franchise, and that perhaps we’re being a tad paranoid, we’re going to have to disagree. Let’s look at how things have been for the franchise in the past three years, beginning with 2023’s Modern Warfare 3, and dive into why continuing with annual releases isn’t going to fix things for the franchise’s dire straits.

More Titles, More Problems

MW3 2023 marked the beginning of a string of releases that were truly baffling in terms of their quality. For starters, the campaign’s early hours go against the genre’s formula and not in a good way. Its attempts to set up the big bad fall flat, while the missions themselves are downright tedious. The poor enemy AI, lack of interesting objectives and optional quests, and a multiplayer mode that failed to add much to the game’s overall promise.

However, the multiplayer modes were fairly okay and at best, acceptable, and perhaps something to take note of in an otherwise bland game. Black Ops 6 came along in 2024 and had us hoping against hope that the switch to another sub series could help inject some variety and true innovation into a formula that was already testing the patience of its players in the years before MW3.

But that was not to be. While the omnimovement system could have been a fantastic touch that changed the way its players approached the game’s grand set-pieces, it wasn’t really necessary to victory. It was a decision that undercut the very innovation that could have elevated Black Ops 6 and put the games back on the map.

That isn’t to say that the game didn’t have its moments. The campaign was certainly better than the one in the previous year, despite a rather annoying new UI that seemed to want to delay you from enjoying the game as much as possible. The multiplayer modes were sadly a downer, with boring map designs that made matches feel routine rather than fun, along with technical issues that marred the experience. It was clear that the franchise was not able to hit all the right notes, and its annual releases weren’t helping matters.

That brings us to this year, and Black Ops 7. We, along with many others, lamented what was the worst campaign we’d seen in the entire genre. But things might have been different if the rest of the game didn’t feel so drab, almost as if by design. We know that wasn’t the case but how could things go so wrong for these games that held an undeserving hold over its genre, and continues to annoy its players despite the shortcomings that every title presents?

It’s simple. It’s a matter of burnout, as it isn’t only gamers who suffer from spending too much time on annual titles that don’t really do much to stand out from the ones that came before them. And like a person who is unable to find their groove despite their best efforts, the franchise desperately needs a break if it is to ensure that its next instalments turn things around for it.

Should Call of Duty Lay Low For A Bit?

It’s fair that the team behind Black Ops 7 is reaching out to its players, this is the least they can do given the disaster they have released but this effort to try and earn back the trust of its disappointed fan base seems like all talk with no substance. Look, taking accountability for one’s failures and promising to do better is always a great choice, I mean, just take a look at Build A Rocket Boy’s truly tone-deaf effort to mitigate the backlash it was receiving for MindsEye earlier this year.

The developer’s and Activision’s decision to merely fix its games is not going to cut it in a world where excellent shooters like Fortnite, and ARC Raiders exist. Even the Battlefield franchise has managed to get an edge over COD this year despite Battlefield 6’s campaign also being disappointing to a certain degree.

You must be wondering that we’ve come down quite hard on Call of Duty, and that our criticism might seem like it’s unwarranted. But that’s far from the truth. Shooters are a popular genre and we absolutely love the good ones, but sincerely speaking, Call of Duty is well past his shelf time. And, given that there is no stopping the annual train, I see no future for these games in the genre. Call of Duty’s European sales are down more than 50% compared to Black Ops 6. Heck, it even sold 63% fewer copies than Battlefield 6 at launch. These numbers don’t lie and player fatigue is real, something the people behind Call of Duty don’t seem to understand, or perhaps they don’t care as long as money is flowing in.

For any great experience to happen, the game needs to be cooked well. And that needs time. Judging by the developer’s latest statements, it seems that the end results are not going to get any better.

Any video game franchise should be good enough to win player’s resources and money, and one cannot achieve that if it simply rushes its team to churn out a new title without actually lending it the substance and style it needs to actually be a great game. Cyberpunk 2077 should be a very important lesson to the team, and a reminder that good things take time. But hey, pretty sure this advice is going to fall on deaf ears.

I personally wish we don’t see another Call of Duty for a while, sure, its playerbase and hardcore fans will be disappointed but the truth is that there are far better experiences on the market that are doing some exceptional and unique things that the people behind Call of Duty can only imagine.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

To this, Booty responds by noting that he has been proud of Treyarch and Activision for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. He also spoke about how difficult it tends to be to release a new game in a major franchise on a yearly basis.

“Right now, it is one of the most-played games on Xbox,” said Booty. “And I’m really proud of what the team did, in terms of feature innovation, moving the franchise forward. Shipping a major franchise like clockwork every year is a really difficult task, and I’m really proud of what the team did to move the franchise forward in that way.”

Ultimately, Booty seems to be quite optimistic about the future of the franchise despite the stumbles faced by Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. He noted that the game is still positioned well as a live-service offering, and that it will continue to get new content through post-launch updates.

“And the interesting thing about Call of Duty is, I think that as an IP, it is really well positioned to continue to deliver content for players going forward; the system of seasons. And it’s not just about the launch, but it’s kind of in its own unique category and ability in terms of how the team keeps delivering content throughout the year. So we’re real happy with where we’ve landed with that,” he said.

Analysts have noted that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s generally poorer reception comes down to a few key things, including major competition in the genre, as well as a few poor decisions that were made during the title’s development. Alinea Analytics’ Rhys Elliot spoke about how games like ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 have been seeing incredible amounts of success, while Fortnite continues to dominate the charts. Call of Duty players, however, have had to contend with some alienation from Activision through the addition of Fortnite-styled cosmetic items like non-military character skins.

“Players have expressed growing dissatisfaction with CoD‘s lack of innovation, feeling that the franchise is ailing. The introduction of Fortnite-like cosmetic items like non-military character skins (Beavis and Butthead, Nicki Minaj) has alienated a significant portion of the fanbase who prefer a more grounded military aesthetic. The co-op campaign was a major point of criticism. It was uneven and tedious when played solo, while also requiring an always-online connection. It also drew controversy and ire for its use of AI slop in game.”

Activision had also announced earlier this year that it will stop doing back-to-back releases for the various sub-series’ under the overall Call of Duty franchise. This means that we won’t see sequels to the Black Ops or Modern Warfare series released in consecutive years, like we did with last year’s Black Ops 6 and this year’s Black Ops 7. Rather, the company plans to give its developers more time, likely by alternating the sub-series’ under Call of Duty as it continues its yearly release cadence for the franchise.

For more details, check out our review of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, which is out on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.