Microsoft Store Awards 2025 lean heavily on AI and overlook obvious standouts — community voting has been ditched

We now know the best apps in the Microsoft Store, at least according to the keeper of that marketplace. Early this month, Giorgio Sardo, Vice President of the Microsoft Store, shared the Microsoft Store Awards 2025 winners.

Feedback on the winners has been largely negative from what I've seen. There are some confusing entries on the list, including a free-to-play game that came out in 2024.

Several people took to X to complain about the list. The winners also surprised all my coworkers that I shared the list with — and not in a good way.

The majority of the apps use AI to some extent, which is hardly a surprise. Microsoft has added AI to everything from Notepad to Microsoft 365, so it's clear the tech giant values artificial intelligence within applications.

Surprisingly, Microsoft did not accept nominations for the Microsoft Store Awards. The tech giant has sought feedback from the community for quite some time, but it went in a different direction in 2025.

Microsoft Store Awards 2025 winners

• AI Assistant: Perplexity by Perplexity AI
• AI Assistant: ChatGPT by OpenAI
• Business: Invoice Maker & Estimate Creator by Moon Invoice by Moon Technolabs Pvt. Ltd.
• Computer-Using Agents (CUA): Manus by Manus AI
• Creativity: n-Track Studio by n-Track S.r.I.
• Developer Tools: ngrok by ngrok
• Education: Scratch 3 by Scratch Foundation
• Game: Castle Craft by Clever Apps Pte Ltd
• Music: Moises Live by Moises Systems, Inc

The winners illustrate Microsoft's focus on an AI-led future. Several of the apps leverage AI, such as Moises Live using real-time AI audio separation to isolate vocals, instruments, and dialogue.

Obviously, Perplexity and ChatGPT use AI, though the timing of the latter winning an award is a bit poor. ChatGPT is a loss-making machine. Its maker, OpenAI, has reportedly made a massive $1.4 trillion in compute commitments. To offset its costs, ChatGPT may soon have ads.

Creating a "Computer-Using Agents category" is rather specific. It reminds me a bit of a youth sports coach making up awards to make sure certain people can receive praise. That's not to say Manus is a bad app; it just has won a category that did not exist until this year.

Our friends at Tom's Guide compared Manus vs ChatGPT and found Manus to be superior in certain aspects.

I've covered apps for a long time. My first job at Windows Central was reviewing apps. Heck, I've helped pick app awards on several occasions. This list just feels off.

The lack of a nomination process and the clear push to highlight AI apps leave a poor taste in my mouth. But none of the awards are as baffling as the game of the year winner.

2025 Game of the year

The Microsoft Store Award winner for the game category is Castle Craft, a free game that's also playable directly within a browser.

I only played Castle Craft briefly after seeing it won the Microsoft Store award. It seems to work fine and has earned a 4.4 out of 5 rating. But I can't help but think about all the incredible games that came out this year that are available through the Microsoft Store.

Arc Raiders, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hollow Knight Silksong, and DOOM: The Dark Ages come to mind.

In contrast to those titles, which have received praise, broken records, or both, Castle Craft does not even appear in the Microsoft Store's "Must-play free games" section.

On top of that, Castle Craft did not even ship in 2025 — it came out last year. A fact highlighted by the Microsoft Store incorrectly listing Castle Craft as a Store Awards 2024 winner.

Microsoft says that this year's winners exemplify "technical excellence, user satisfaction and transformative potential." I struggle to believe Microsoft could not find a game that covers those categories better.

What do you think of the Microsoft Store Awards 2025 winners? Are they all deserving of recognition? Are there apps and games you'd prefer to see on the list? Let us know in the comments below.

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