The seven-year-longXbox OneandPS4generation is reaching the end of its cycle, with theXbox Series X|SandPS5set to kick off a new era of gaming.
RELATED:10 Xbox One Games With Absolutely Huge Open-World Maps
Whereas Sony is looking to stay traditional with its PS5, Microsoft is set to change the way that its games are purchased with a Netflix-style subscription service. Microsoft has leaned heavily into the pre-existing service by including EA Play andpurchasing ZeniMax Media, accompanied by the announcementthat upcoming Bethesda games will be included in Game Pass. Interestingly, this means that the Xbox One is likely going to be the last generation of Xbox console where best selling games is a relevant statistic.
Although the Xbox One was outsold by its competitor, the console still had numerous excellent gamesthat sold extremely well.
10Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (78)
The bottom game on this list scoring a respectable 78 bodes well for the Xbox One, as a console’s best selling titles can make or break a system. This is best exemplified by the Atari 2600, as two of the revolutionary console’s best selling games were so bad that they almost crashed the gaming industry entirely.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfareis the first ofan impressive threeCall of Dutytitles to feature on this list. The 2016 game didn’t get off to the best of starts as itstrailer is still one of the most disliked videos in the history of YouTube, due to fans displeasure over the futuristic setting. Evidently, the game still sold well, however, it handed a fanbase to EA’s WWI shooterBattlefield 1,which outsold it considerably.
9Call of Duty: WWII (80)
Conveniently, the follow up toInfinite Warfareis the next game on this list. Activision and Sledgehammer Games seemingly listened to the outcry over Infinity Ward’sInfinite Warfare, so decided to take the series back to its roots.
The WWII setting was clearly a ploy to win back FPS fans who had either jumped ship toBattlefieldor lost interest in theonline shootergenre entirely. Activisionaccompanied the fan-favorite WWII setting with a marketing campaign based around the slogan “Get Your Squad Back Together”.
8Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (81)
The third and finalCall of Dutygame to appear on this list,Black Ops 3was developed by Treyarch and released in 2015, making itInfinite Warfare’s direct predecessor.
RELATED:15 Best Xbox One Games That Don’t Require An Internet Connection
Black Ops 3differentiated itself from previousBlack Opsgames with its Thrust Jump. The Thrust Jump was a rechargeable, momentum-based jump and movement system allowing players to boost into the air while still maintaining the use of their gun.
7Halo 5: Guardians (84)
Halo 5: Guardianswas 343 Industries' second main seriesHalogame followingHalo 4. Xbox’s mascot Master Chief returned once again to provide some of the best FPS gameplay on the Xbox One.
The game was praised for continuing the series' tradition of excellent level design and fun multiplayer but was criticized for its convoluted and disjointed plot.
6PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (85)
PlayerUnkown’s Battlegroundsis one of the most influential games of the eighth generation of home consoles, with its battle royale gameplay that has formed a new genre of gaming. The battle royal genre isn’t just for third-person-shooters though, as gaming classics likeTetrisandSuper Mariohave jumped on the hype train and implemented the playstyle into spin-off games.
DespitePUBG’s excellent sales, it’s not unreasonable to say that the game was short-changed. As Epic Games’Fortnitepulled the rug out from underneathBattlegrounds,with a battle royal game that took many of PUBG Corporation’s ideas. In fairness toFortnite, it offered a free-to-play and completed product, in comparison toPlayerUnknown Battlegrounds' technically faulty early-access product that charged people to play.PUBG Corporation sued Epic Games in response to this, but the lawsuit was dropped.
5Battlefield 1 (87)
The aforementionedBattlefiled 1capitalized on the outcry overCall of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s futuristic setting by taking players back to what was once known as the war to end all wars, WWI.
To say thatInfinity Warfarewas entirely responsibleforBattlefield 1’s successwould be a great disservice though. EA Dice earned its impressive sales figures with one of the Xbox One’s best online multiplayer offerings, led by the series' trademark Conquest mode.
4Fallout 4 (88)
Bethesda may not have offered anotherElder Scrollsgame this generation, but they did provide the long-awaited follow up toFallout 3andFallout: New Vegas.
RELATED:Xbox One: The 10 Best Local Four-Player Games You Can Play Now
Fallout 4is one of Bethesda’s most divisive games,exemplified by its lackluster 6.5 User Score, contrasting its Metacritic score. The game was praised by critics for its impressive open-world but criticized by fans for its redundant speech options and repetitive fetch quests.
3Minecraft: Xbox One Edition (88)
According to IGN, Minecraft is the second best selling game ever! The revolutionary sandbox game’s successinspired Microsoft to purchase its developer and publisher Mojang Studios for $2.5 Billion.
The game has come on leaps and bounds since its initial release. Improvements to the game include the implementation of horses, the villagers and pillagers update, and the aquatic update.
Minecraftreceived the same score asFallout 4.As a tie-breaker, it lands higher on this list as it sold more units.
Red Dead Redemption 2’swhopping score of 97 gives it plenty of breathing room ahead of the list’s previous entries. Rockstar Games rarely misses the mark when it comes to their AAA releases, andRed Dead Redemption 2is no exception.
The game offered some of the most incredible realism seen in gaming up until this point, especially with the weather effects and animal behaviors. Like many Rockstar games though, the eye-watering score is largely due tothe huge open-worldthat is wonderfully designed and densely populated with side activities.
Red Dead Redemption 2was also lauded for itsstory that was far more fleshed-out and emotionalthan what is expected from a Rockstar game.
1Grand Theft Auto 5 (97)
Grand Theft Auto 5is not only the joint highest-scoring game on this list, but it is the highest-selling game too. This is especially impressive as, although it’s easy to forget now, the game was originally released on the Xbox 360.
Grand Theft Auto 4may have a higher Metacritic score, but there’s no doubt thatGTA 5greatly improved the scale of the series. Along with itsever-expanding online modeis one of the most impressive, immersive, anddetailed open-worlds in gaming history.
GTA 5was released on the Xbox One a year after the console hit stores. It wasn’t just a straight port though as the updated iteration offered graphical enhancements and let players change to a first-person perspective for the first time in the series.
