The Gold Standard
In 2015, Microsoft’s sales pitch heading into the holiday season was “The greatest games lineup in Xbox history.” It felt sort of hollow at the time, like those games were okay but that the best was still around the corner.
As it turns out, that tagline would have been better saved for 2016. This year has seen a satisfying harmony of Xbox exclusives, big multi-platform games, and outstanding indie titles. If this wasn’t the greatest lineup (yet), it was at least the most well-rounded.
That made it tough to sort through and come up with a (somewhat) manageable list of the best of the best. A little bit of everything’s represented, a little bit that suits everyone’s tastes. They may come from wildly different backgrounds, but there’s one common thread — they’re the finest Xbox has to offer this year.
Here are the nominees for Destructoid’s Best Xbox One Game of 2016:
[Incomplete products like Steam Early Access titles, and episodic titles that are not fair to assess as standalone experiences, without a full episode count, were not eligible for this year’s awards.The cutoff for entry into Destructoid’s 2016’s Game of the Year awards is June 28, 2025.]
