Metacritichas just released its 2023 Game Publisher Rankings, and neither Xbox nor Nintendo appears in the top 10 there. After a year of not-so-memorable releases, two of the three first-party console publishers failed to score enough points to enterMetacritic’s list, with Nintendo underperforming and Xbox not appearing at all.
Published every year since 2011, Metacritic’s Game Publisher Rankings uses the platform’s data to determine which publishers are putting out the best titles. The performance accounts only for the Metacritic score of each entry, leaving stats like sales and user reviews out of the equation. Also, only publishers who release at least five titles are included, which excludes a few smaller companies, or even big ones, which is what happened this year. Last year,Microsoft won the Metacritic awardswith an average score of 87.4.
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Now, the 2023 Metacritic’s Game Publisher Rankings listed 45 publishers and neither Xbox nor Nintendo was able to rank among the top 10. Despitereleasing great titles such asPentimentlast year, Xbox failed to put out five games, which took it out of the competition, and Nintendo was stuck in the 12th position, being left out of the Top 10. To make matters even worse for these two companies, their main competitor, Sony, has ranked first, staying ahead of publishers like Activision Blizzard, Capcom, and SEGA.
7: SEGA
9: Humble Games
10: Devolver Digital
It’s unsurprising that Sony ranked first when considering how good its last year was.God of War Ragnarokscored 94 on Metacritic, and it was hailed as one of the best games in recent years. Its success was so overwhelming thatGod of War Ragnarokrecently passed over 11 million sales, proving that it could be both a critical and sales hit. Other titles, such asHorizon Forbidden West, also ranked well with an overall score of 88.
If Xbox and Nintendo failed to score a decent place in Metacritic’s rankings or appear at all, however, it does not seem that this will continue in 2024, as long as they can keep releasing five titles yearly. This year, both companies have some hyped releases that may just put them on the map again. For instance, Nintendo willrelease the long-awaitedLegend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomin May. Microsoft’s Bethesda studio will also probably get very good reviews with the upcoming star exploration RPGStarfield, so it remains to be seen how they will fare next year.
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