Metacritic has shared its list of top game publishers of 2021, with Microsoft leaping to the first place. The company has outperformed other big companies, including Sony, Activision Blizzard, and EA.
Psychonauts 2
The 12th annual ranking was published on March 9. Metacritic only uses critic reviews to evaluate each publisher’s performance for the past 12 months.
Positions on the list are based on a special points system: “Points for average Metascore are awarded at 1.5 x the average (with a maximum of 150 points possible). Points for good % and bad % are awarded based on a maximum of 100 each.”
A company can also get five bonus points for each “great” game, which has an average Metascore of 90+ based on at least seven critic reviews.
The top 10 game publishers of 2021
- Microsoft (ranked 6th in 2020) — three “great” games (Forza Horizon 5, Psychonauts 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator for Xbox Series X) 10 scored titles, average Metascore — 87.4
- Sony (ranked 4th in 2020) — zero “great” games, 11 scored titles, average Metascore — 81.3
- Humble Games (ranked 18th in 2020) — zero “great” games, 17 scored titles, average Metascore — 80.9
- Activision Blizzard (ranked 5th in 2020) — one “great” game (Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 for next-gen consoles), 17 scored titles, average Metascore — 80.6
- Bethesda (ranked 16th in 2020) — zero “great” games, 15 scored titles, average Metascore — 80.2
- Capcom (ranked 3rd in 2020) — zero “great” games, 17 scored titles, average Metascore — 80.6
- Bandai Namco (ranked 38th in 2020) — zero “great” games, 24 scored titles, average Metascore — 78.5
- SEGA (ranked 1st in 2020) — zero “great” games, 38 scored titles, average Metascore — 77.6
- Electronic Arts (ranked 21st in 2020) — one “great” game (Mass Effect: Legendary Edition), 36 scored titles, average Metascore — 78.3
- 505 Games (ranked 13th in 2020) — zero “great” games, eight scored titles, average Metascore — 75.7
It is worth noting that Microsoft became the first publisher in the history of Metacritic with an average score of 85+.
The full ranking can be found here.