Ever wandered which developer offers the best and worst games overall? Well, now a scientifically dubious experiment using Metacritic’s review averaging software gives us some… well if not answers, at least some fuel for debate.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, a survey from Game Quarry has taken a list of all the publishers on Metacritic (which averages reviews across multiple sites for every game published) and allocated a points system for each game, ranging from 2 points for every release given a 90-100% average rating, and -2 points for every game scoring an average of below 59%. This seems a bit harsh to me as brave experiment Alone in the Dark would give the developers the same deduction as self-styled ‘worst game ever’ Big Rigs, but I digress.
Anyway, the results provide some interesting reading, with Rockstar Games coming out on top with 19 points from 23 titles, mainly off the back of the universally acclaimed Grand Theft Auto franchise, while Telltale Games – publishers of the episodic Sam and Max adventures – give them a run for their money with 14 from 23.
Arguably more interesting is the least consistent, which seems to be more a list of developers with no quality control rather than ones which are just plain bad.
Topping this ‘list of shame’ is Ubisoft with -148 from 237 games, just a little ahead of Activision with -138 from 227 titles. THQ were just behind with -120 from 150 games. The reason for this poor show? According to Metacritic, Ubisoft have published 75 titles which scored an average of less than 59%, compared to just 4 that managed 90% or higher. THQ fared even worse, with just a single 90%+ title, and 95 which cost them points by being below 69%.
It’s important to know that the graph only works with historic data and it’s impossible to see any time based trends. A developer in the bottom half may have shown improvements in the last year, whereas ones near the top may be slipping. Still… interesting reading.
The full top and bottom 10 can be seen on Dave Perry’s blog.
What do you think? An unfair system? Are some developers getting off lightly?
As ever let us know in the comments.
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