39% of the new releases in the Microsoft Store in 2025 are low-quality games designed for quickly earning Gamerscore points
This was reported by the portal TrueAchievements, which analyzed all games released in 2025 in the Microsoft Store. Their statistics cover games for both Xbox consoles and PC.
Bee Flowers by Afil Games
As calculated by TrueAchievements, a total of 2,262 new games were added to the Microsoft Store last year. This is a 65% increase compared to 2024. However, along with regular games, the store's catalog also saw a significant rise in blatant shovelware projects—games played to quickly boost trophy counts on accounts and earn Gamerscore points.
Throughout 2025, TrueAchievements writes, at least 881 shovelware games were released in the Microsoft Store. The publication's editors do not rule out that this is an underestimated number, and in reality, even more such games were released. Nonetheless, even with this figure, the amount of such games in the store increased by 204% compared to 2024, when there were 290 such low-quality games.
One of the most active publishers of shovelware games in 2025 turned out to be Afil Games, releasing 191 games in the Microsoft Store over the year.
Previously, it was reported that Sony blocked the publisher ThiGames in the PlayStation Store, which also specialized in games for quick trophy acquisition. As a result, 153 games (or over a thousand if counting all regional versions) were removed from the store.