Regardless of whether your Xbox library is predominately physical or digital these days, there's one thing that all games still need in 2024 - some eye-catching box art. It's the first thing you see on both the Xbox Store and on the highstreet!
You only get one chance to make a first impression, and we've seen some amazing examples over the years from Halo to Gears of War. Well-designed box art can make a huge difference when it comes to generating sales, and that includes for the bad games - Fighter Within has decent box art, but we gave it a 1/10 here at Pure Xbox!
Avowed is an interesting example as well - everyone seems to be in love with the box art for that one:
We all have a few games that come to mind when this topic's brought up - personally, I think of titles such as Two Point Hospital and Sonic Mania. Another one is 2010 FIFA World Cup... that game was just so vibrant and full of colour.
So, which Xbox games do you think have the best box art in your opinion? Also, looking back on the history of Xbox's physical designs, is there a specific box style you've liked the most? We'd say the Xbox 360 boxes are #1 for us!
What are you picking? Let us know down in the comments section below!
Comments 25
Kinda cheating since it's not out yet, but Avowed, I agree.
Though there are plenty of differing opinions one the actual game Starfield box art is at the top of my list. I will look through my collection and see what others stand out when i have some time.
I've always loved the original Fable's box art, it's simple but embodies the game brilliantly.
DOOM & DOOM Eternals reversible covers are awesome hopefully we get another for The Dark Age
Sunset Overdrive's cover definitely invokes it's "Welcome to the Awesomepocalypse" vibe. But I would concede that it's too busy compared to the very eloquent Avowed box art.
Read Dead Redemption 2, Octopath Traveler, Ori, Cuphead, and those Megaman collections immediately come to mind. Anything Remedy does too. Alan Wake, Control, it’s all iconic. I love box art. I do think the golden age might’ve been NES/SNES, but there’s still some really solid ones these days. In particular, I do enjoy those sketchy style Square box arts that they’ve been doing lately.
Fable 1 box art was great
That avowed one is awesome. I like the dragon quest 3 remake cover art too
One thing I hate about "box art" for games nowadays is how they often get changed on the console/PC dashboard when a game gets updated.
They'll make the game logo really small and put some massive garish "SEASON 12" text on the game tile and it'll invariably have some gross or rubbish art to go with it. Halo Infinite (when I was still playing it) was always really bad for this, for example.
Gears of war 2 box art is badass (the one where marcus isn’t looking at you)
Halo 2 unfortunately is too edgy , halo 3 pretty boring , CE was ok..reach is generic
Forza Horizon 4 is pretty
perfect dark zero is sexy & badass
id have to go with gears 2 and Perfect dark zero as the best xbox exclusive box art covers
non exclusive is Assasins Creed 3. i remember the launch commercial and at the time i never seen AC be so brutal before , i love it .
I miss the crazy box art of the past. Anyone remember that snes game with the old man playing the banjo on the cover? That was great it had nothing to do with the game lol.
Gears of War 1 steelbook limited edition. Still have it, still love it.
OG Halo boxart is also amazing, encapsulates the whole game.
Seems really obvious but the original Halo on the OG Xbox. Forza Horizon 4 is nice with all the leaves. The recent Flight Simulator is good.
@nomither6
What makes the Halo 2 box art edgy? It’s not the best in the series, but I still think it’s better than Halo CE, that art to me doesn’t look realistic. I think it’s getting a nostalgia boost here.
Absolutely disagree with Klobrille about the Avowed box art. The visual aesthetic pervading that entire game is an atrocious Lisa Frank parody—and that extends to the box art.
If I were to pick a few box art standouts, I’d go with the super stylized MGS2: Substance on original Xbox (Yoji Shinkawa is on the same ethereal plane as Yoshitaka Amano as far as I’m concerned), the clean and minimalist Oblivion on 360, and maybe Halo Infinite on Series machines—that art is admittedly pretty epic.
Games with graphical styles that make me want to take a cheese grater to my eyes (Fortnite, Diablo 3, Avowed, new Dragon Age etc) should not even have box art.
That's many games. Would take too much time to decide.
@Medic_alert "(Edit - forgot they were on Switch but I'll still leave them here)"
Considering that one of the listed examples is FIFA World Cup 2010, I suspect absolutely anything that runs on Xbox is fair game, so I don't think anyone's going to hold the Ori games against you.
@Gkobz it just looks too “tryhard” imo . it was cool in the early 2000’s but looking at it now , i get shadow the hedgehog vibes ( another box art i used to like) . its weird because i actually like edgy things for lack of better word , but halo 2 box art just ain’t it for me .
Was playing Atari 50 collection and it's fascinating how the box art evolved, or I should say devolves. The early games have beautiful illustrations, elegant graphic design and special print treatments, like metallic inks.
By the early 90s they look like they've been done by someone who has never picked up a pencil before.
Saw the Avowed dynamic theme on the Xbox, great art design. My favorite Xbox box art is just the steelbook cases.
Black Ops 2 is my favourite box art, It’s my avatar here on Pure Xbox also so I suppose that’s pretty obvious choice. As for Xbox only games, I’d say Halo 4. Always liked that box art.
@nomither6
I see where you are coming from, tries too hard. It looks like Master Chief just stopped to pose for a picture in the middle of war. lol.
Does anyone know if Xbox made any different covers for different regions or territories?
I know Nintendo had different designs for western audiences.
Box art often looks great until you plaster over all the brand logos, age, ratings, price tags etc. then they just look busy and incongruent. For that reason i've always liked dual sided reversible covers where the interior one is pristine, free from all that gunk.
So best box art? Any that has a reversible cover.
My choice from XBOX 360.
1st party
3rd party
Definitely the Arkham Batman game of the year edition with the 10/10 scores plastered all over the artwork.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...