Sony was Metacritic’s highest-rated publisher in 2022

Metacritic has announced the results of its 13th annual Game Publisher Rankings.

Sony Interactive Entertainment topped the list, which was determined based on the quality of publishers’ 2022 releases.

The PlayStation maker came out on top ahead of Paradox Interactive, Activision Blizzard, Focus Entertainment and Take-Two Interactive.

Last year saw the platform holder release a string of critically acclaimed games including console titles God of War Ragnarök, The Last of Us Part 1, Horizon Forbidden West and Gran Turismo, plus God of War and Spider-Man titles for PC.

Publishers were ranked using a points system, calculated (as in previous years) according to four factors.

Most weight was given to the average Metascore for their games, but also taken into account were the percentage of scored titles with good reviews (75 or higher), the percentage of scored products with bad reviews (49 or lower), and the number of “great” games released (90 or higher).

Only publishers with five or more distinct titles released in 2022 were eligible to be included, meaning last year’s winner Microsoft missed out completely following a quiet year for the Xbox maker.

The top 10 publishers are listed below, along with their average Metascore and previous year’s ranking.

• 1) Sony Interactive Entertainment – 85.6 (last year: 2nd)
• 2) Paradox Interactive – 81.6 (last year: n/a)
• 3) Activision Blizzard – 76.5 (last year: 4th)
• 4) Focus Entertainment – 80 (last year: 17th)
• 5) Take-Two – 78.9 (last year: 27th)
• 6) Capcom – 78.6 (last year: 6th)
• 7) Sega – 79.3 (last year: 8th)
• 8) Annapurna Interactive – 79.2 (last year: 18th)
• 9) Humble Games – 76.8 (last year: 3rd)
• 10) Devolver Digital – 78.3 (last year: 11th)

The full list of 45 publishers can be found here. Big names that missed out on the top 10 included Nintendo at No.12, Electronic Arts at No.17, Bandai Namco at No.24 and Ubisoft at No.38.