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Metacritic's 10th annual game publisher rankings

Deleted member 10737

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www.metacritic.com

Metacritic's 10th Annual Game Publisher Rankings

We reveal the past year's best and worst videogame publishers (based on their 2019 releases) in our 10th annual Game Publisher Rankings.
www.metacritic.com www.metacritic.com

  1. 505 Games
  2. Activision Blizzard
  3. Nintendo
  4. Paradox Interactive
  5. Capcom
  6. Annapurna Interactive
  7. Xbox Game Studios
  8. Humble Bundle
  9. Square Enix
  10. Devolver Digital
  11. Focus Home Interactive
  12. Take-Two Interactive
  13. Electronic Arts
  14. Ubisoft
  15. Team17
  16. Spike Chunsoft
  17. Koei Tecmo Games
  18. Sega
  19. Bandai Namco Games
  20. Konami
  21. Idea Factory
  22. Sony
  23. PQube
  24. XSeed/Marvelous
  25. tinyBuild
  26. Iceberg Interactive
  27. Koch Media
  28. Digerati Distribution
  29. THQ Nordic
  30. Bethesda Softworks
  31. NIS America
  32. Daedalic Entertainment
  33. QubicGames
  34. Curve Digital
  35. Plug In Digital
  36. Ratalaika Games
  37. Bigben Interactive
  38. 1C Company
  39. Headup Games
  40. Merge Games

methodology:
In past years, we divided publishers into two groups (bigger and less big) based on how many titles each one published. Because the cutoff was arbitrary, and publishers shifted from one group to another from year to year, we have decided to eliminate the groups this year and rank all publishers together in one big group. Publishers with 4 or fewer distinct titles* released last year are excluded.

We have ranked these publishers in order from best overall game quality to worst, using a points-based system based on four factors:
  1. Average Metascore for all games released in 2019
    150 possible points (awarded at 1.5 x the average Metascore)
  2. % of scored products with good reviews (Metascore of at least 75)
    100 possible points (ex: 80% good = 80 points)
  3. % of scored products with bad reviews (49 or lower; in this case, a lower % is better)
    100 possible points (ex: 20% bad = 80 points)
  4. Number of "great" titles (Metascore of 90 or higher, min. 7 reviews)
    Awarded as 5 bonus points for each distinct title with a 90+ score
Note that the Metascore average (the first factor) counts slightly more than the other factors. In addition, note that iOS games are not included in the figures below.
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fiendcode

fiendcode

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Oct 26, 2017
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Crazy how well Nintendo and Square Enix place given the large number of games they both put out.
 
Lyre

Lyre

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Not sure about their methodology, feel Nintendo should have topped this one given (1) their average metascore and (2) the sheer volume of diverse titles that they published last year.
 
Lulu

Lulu

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Oct 25, 2017
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capgod about to be number 1 over the next year
 
ghostcrew

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Annapurna are an absolute legendary-tier publisher. Will buy virtually everything they put out. Of course they're that high.
 
Caiusto

Caiusto

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Oct 25, 2017
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Annapurna games are so unique and diverse, I'm not surprised to see them so high. <3
 
Hilarious_Bearious

Hilarious_Bearious

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Nov 4, 2017
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mazi said:
they had a few console games this year that scored lower than 75.
mobile games are not factored into the points.
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Shpeshal Ed said:
No, they're dragged down by the fact that not every single game they make is a 90 plus Metacritic blockbuster?
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ThiagoJG said:
It was just not a good year for their games reviews. Days Gone, MediEvil, Concrete Genie all were below 75 on MC.
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Ah yep, read the fine print more closely and it makes sense now. Cheers.

Also 75 MC for Concrete Genie is an absolute rort; talk about getting robbed!
 
Creamium

Creamium

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Oct 25, 2017
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Annapurna is like an indie seal of quality. Have not played Outer Wilds yet, but Gorogoa, Sayonara, Edith Finch and Kentucky Route Zero are essentials. They deserve to be that high. No doubt The Artful Escape will be great too.
 
ghostcrew

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Creamium said:
Annapurna is like an indie seal of quality. Have not played Outer Wilds yet, but Gorogoa, Sayonara, Edith Finch and Kentucky Route Zero are essentials. They deserve to be that high. No doubt The Artful Escape will be great too.
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Outer Wilds was my GOTY last year easily. Big Ashen fan too. They're just consistently great.
 
Fisty

Fisty

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Oct 25, 2017
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Damn what has 505 put out that put them so high? Only thing I know of off the top of my head is Control
 
hrœrekr

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How's Dragon Quest XI included in Square's games if the 2019 version was published by Nintendo??
 
Raijinto

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Nintendo had a pretty solid year indeed whilst Sony are definitely a standout at how poorly they did in comparison to their previous year.
 
hrœrekr

hrœrekr

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Stygr said:
Because it is still a Square Enix title and Nintendo is publishing only in the West?
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It's a publisher ranking, not developer. The ranking would be very different otherwise.

Regarding the region, do they compile Japanese scores too? If not, there is no excuse.
If yes, they should either count the game on both publishers, separate score by region, or just explicit whatever exclusions they are considering.
 
OP
OP

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hrœrekr said:
Regarding the region, do they compile Japanese scores too? If not, there is no excuse.
If yes, they should either count the game on both publishers, separate score by region, or just explicit whatever exclusions they are considering.
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they don't. metacritic ignores japan-only games or reviews from japanese publications.
 
azeke

azeke

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Oct 30, 2017
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fiendcode said:
Crazy how well Nintendo and Square Enix place given the large number of games they both put out.
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Most of the Square's releases are "surefire" re-releases with primed fanbases ready to buy and rank them highly. Capcom is very similar now.

And ironically enough Nintendo who outproduces most of the other publishers doesn't rely on ports and remakes (for better and worse).
 
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