Metacritic reviews the top game publishers in 2021, and the war between Microsoft and Sony still rages on by ranking.
While 2022 is already well underway, Metacritic has just turned the page in 2021, with a ranking for video game publishers. Quite precisely, the site unveils the list of the best publishers in 2021, with Microsoft and Sony in the lead. But which of the two won the award for best editor? Answer below, right after the explanations of the Metacritic evaluation method.
Several key factors
Known for the inventory of the various tests and reviews and the attribution of a Metascore according to the evaluations of the press and the players, the platform also knows how to use all this data to draw clear and precise results. Thus, to determine which publisher stood out the most in 2021, the site evaluates four different aspects which are as follows:
- The average Metascore for all games released in 2021
- The percentage of products with good reviews (Metascore of at least 75)
- The percentage of products rated with bad reviews (Metascore of 49 or less; in this case, a lower percentage is better)
- The number of “excellent” titles (Metascore of 90 or more, min. 7 reviews)
Microsoft plays cards on the table
With all this, Metacritic has established that it was Microsoft who came out on top in 2021 with an overall score of 346 points, followed closely by Sony which managed to reach a score of 312.9 points. Not far behind are two very fashionable studios, Activision Blizzard in fourth place with 308.2 points and just behind Bethesda Softworks with 306.9 points. It is with this ranking that we realize that Microsoft has played its best cards by buying these two entities.
A little further in the ranking, we find big names that we are absolutely not surprised to see here. We note all the same that Nintendo only managed to take the fourteenth place, ahead of Ubisoft which placed itself in the nineteenth place. Here is the full list of the top 20 publishers in 2021.
- Microsoft / Xbox Games Studios: 346 points
- Sony: 312.9 points
- Humble Games: 309.6 points
- Activision Blizzard: 308.2 points
- Bethesda Softworks: 306.9 points
- Capcom: 303.3 points
- Bandai Namco: 292.7 points
- SEGA: 292.7 points
- Electronic Arts: 291.9 points
- 505 Games: 288.5 points
- Devolver Digital: 284.8 points
- Square Enix: 277.2 points
- DANGEN Entertainment: 265.2 points
- Nintendo: 264 points
- Koei Tecmo Games: 263.5 points
- Plug-In Digital: 262.7 points
- Focus Entertainment: 259.5 points
- Annapurna Interactive: 257.3 points
- Ubisoft: 254.1 points
- Raw Fury: 252.8 points
