Every year Metacritic compiles a list of best performing game publishers based on critic reviews for games released in that particular year. User reviews and sales are not taken into account to evaluate performance. The list for 2017 is lead by Bethesda with an average metascore of 79.9%. Its best overall release is Wolfenstein 2, with a metascore of 88%. Doom VFR has been awarded the title of Bethesda's worst overall release, with a metascore of just 69%.

Second place takes Nintendo, boosting an average metascore of 78%. Its best overall and worse overall releases were Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (97%) and Flip Wars (53%), respectively. The Big N yet again released more distinct titles (31) than any other publisher. It was also the only publisher to achieve a 90+ score for three different titles in 2017. Those titles were Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (97%), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (92%) and Super Mario Odyssey (97%), all released for the Switch. The Switch itself got a metascore average of 80% for its releases, compared to 75.5% for 3DS games.

The bronze medal goes to SEGA, averaging a metascore of 75.5%. The PC port of Bayonetta has been a huge hit, receiving a metascore of 90%. Not so much well received was Valkyria Revolution for the PS4, averaging a metascore not more than 55%.

The list goes on as follows:

4. Activision Blizzard (75.7%)
- Best overall release: Destiny 2 (Xbox One) (87%)
- Worst overall release: Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris (PS4) (57%)

5. Capcom (76.6%)
- Best overall release: Okami HD (PS4) (92%)
- Worst overall release: Ultra Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers (Switch) (66%)

6. Ubisoft (75.4%)
- Best overall release: Assassin's Creed: Origins (Xbox One) (85%)
- Worst overall release: Monopoly for Nintendo Switch (53%)

7. Sony (74.9%)
- Best overall release: Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4) (89%)
- Worst overall release: Drawn to Death (PS4) (56%)

8. Square Enix (73.6)
- Best overall release: Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood (PS4) (89%)
- Worst overall release: Oh my Godheads (PS4) (56%)

9. Bandai Namco (73%)
- Best overall release: Project CARS 2 (PC) (85%)
- Worst overall release: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle (Xbox One) (46%)

10. Koei Tecmo Games (69.7)
- Best overall release: Nioh: Complete Edition (PC) (84%)
- Worst overall release: Berserk and the Band of the Hawk (PC) (54%)

11. NIS America (68.2%)
- Best overall release: YS VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA (PS4) 85%)
- Worst overall release: Tokyo Tattoo Girls (Vita) (36%)

12. Telltale Games ( 70.9%)
- Best overall release: Guardians of the Galaxy - Episode 2 (Xbox One) (78%)
- Worst overall release: The Walking Dead: A New Frontier Episode 4 (PS4) (62%)

Source

 

[MikaDubbz]

no but hyped games tend to get alot of really good reviews then the hype starts to die and they get more average ones

Even still, Nintendo topped the number of games receiving a "great" rating in that spreadsheet, with 3 of their titles. Sony had 0. This isn't a fluke, it was just a great year for Nintendo no matter how you slice it. Even when the Wii U was failing, Nintendo's games often received great ratings across metacritic. Their ability to make good games really shouldn't be a question, they've never been bad at that.

 

[Deleted User]

Even still, Nintendo topped the number of games receiving a "great" rating in that spreadsheet, with 3 of their titles. Sony had 0. This isn't a fluke, it was just a great year for Nintendo no matter how you slice it. Even when the Wii U was failing, Nintendo's games often received great ratings across metacritic. Their ability to make good games really shouldn't be a question, they've never been bad at that.

i know i never said it was a fluke
i said that they just got a hyped new system too
they have a huge fanbase + multiple active systems
almost guaranteed high placement
but they still lackgood online stuff :/
i like sony and microsoft better than ninty because of the better services
and all my weeb games on the vita :3
ninty may allow friends but they over moniter interaction and dont provide an easy way to just talk
sony and microsoft both provide less restrictive chat and achievment syncing
but ninty has all their fun games that will only ever be on their systems
and the hardware

 

[MikaDubbz]

i know i never said it was a fluke
i said that they just got a hyped new system too
they have a huge fanbase + multiple active systems
almost guaranteed high placement
but they still lackgood online stuff :/
i like sony and microsoft better than ninty because of the better services
and all my weeb games on the vita :3
ninty may allow friends but they over moniter interaction and dont provide an easy way to just talk
sony and microsoft both provide less restrictive chat and achievment syncing
but ninty has all their fun games that will only ever be on their systems
and the hardware

Hyping a system or the games coming for it, does not ensure they'll get good ratings, and it certainly doesn't ensure they'll get nearly universally great ratings for 3 of their games. Beyond that, do you not appreciate that with 31 games in the mix, they averaged out to a metascore of 78.0 for all 31 of those games? No amount of hype will ever ensure that happens for anyone. Fact of the matter is they make good games, the reviewers recognize this, their scores reflect this, and the average of all their scores across all 31 games proves that they're a great game developer that doesn't just get by on hype, and as such rightfully topped Sony this year. Sony did fine, but lets be real, their games overall weren't quite as good as what Nintendo had to offer in 2017.

 

[Deleted User]

Hyping a system or the games coming for it, does not ensure they'll get good ratings, and it certainly doesn't ensure they'll get nearly universally great ratings for 3 of their games. Beyond that, do you no appreciate that with 31 games in the mix, they averaged out to a metascore of 78.0 for all 31 of those games? No amount of hype will ever ensure that happens for anyone. Fact of the matter is they make good games, the reviewers recognize this, their scores reflect this, and the average of all their scores across all 31 games proves that they're a great game developer that doesn't just get by on hype.

i know im not saying that they do
im just saying that there is alot of hype
and i do enjoy alot of their games
if online stuff wasnt so strict with them i would be carrying around a nintendo system still
now i just leave them at home and use them when im bored or feel like playing some of their games that i cant get on my vita
ninty also needs more mature games in the mix
occasional horror games
doom
sk
smt
and others that im too lazy to list are not that good of a mix
ᶦ ʷᵃⁿᵗ ˢᵒᵐᵉ ᵉᵗʳᶦᵃⁿ ᵒᵈʸˢˢᵉʸ ᵒⁿ ˢᵒᵐᵉᵗʰᶦⁿᵍ ᵇᵉˢᶦᵈᵉˢ ᵐʸ ³ᵈˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵈˢ :/

 

[MikaDubbz]

i know im not saying that they do
im just saying that there is alot of hype
and i do enjoy alot of their games
if online stuff wasnt so strict with them i would be carrying around a nintendo system still
now i just leave them at home and use them when im bored or feel like playing some of their games that i cant get on my vita
ninty also needs more mature games in the mix
occasional horror games
doom
sk
smt
and others that im too lazy to list are not that good of a mix
ᶦ ʷᵃⁿᵗ ˢᵒᵐᵉ ᵉᵗʳᶦᵃⁿ ᵒᵈʸˢˢᵉʸ ᵒⁿ ˢᵒᵐᵉᵗʰᶦⁿᵍ ᵇᵉˢᶦᵈᵉˢ ᵐʸ ³ᵈˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵈˢ :/

Well so you're just saying you personally feel that Nintendo's games weren't as good as Sony's offerings. That's fine to feel that way, but this is just an undeniable recognition of what all the cumulative reviews had to say. Its not about hype, and its not about what kind of modes each game does or does not have to offer, and its certainly not about what the ratings of the games that the dev had to offer for the year; its simply about what the overall metacritic is for the dev based on the average of all their released games last year. Nintendo managed to reach second within that criteria, and the company in first only released like 6 games for the year. Its absolutely impressive what Nintendo achieved here, and completely understandable how they beat Sony within this criteria for the year as well.

 

[lolboy]

They forgot to include LJN...

 

[TheTechGenius]

I'm glad to see Bethesda and Nintendo at the top of the list, they deserve it, unlike Activision Blizzard.

I bet if they included User Review Scores Activision Blizzard Wouldn't even make the list.

That's one of the reasons is very hard for me to trust big main stream review sites. And if I do go to one of those big review sites I never look at the critic reviews, I look at the user reviews. Or I go watch someone I trust on YouTube.


I do think Sony should be at least 3rd on that list though. They have many really good exclusive games, such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Uncharted.