Metacritic Ranked Capcom as the Best Publisher of 2018

For the last nine years, Metacritic has released rankings to determine a calendar year’s best publisher. In 2017, the honor went to Bethesda Softworks. For 2018, a new best publisher has been crowned: Capcom. This selection isn’t arbitrary. Rather, each pick is determined by the quality of a publisher’s releases, measured by critic reviews gathered from Metacritic data. Sales numbers, user reviews, and other external factors are exempt from the rankings altogether.

With all of the above in mind, Capcom seems to fit the bill for 2018’s best publisher. According to Metacritic data, Monster Hunter: World was Capcom’s best overall release, as it earned a 90 Metascore. Meanwhile, Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 sat at a 60 Metascore for the Switch version, which made it the publisher’s worst overall release in 2018.

This isn’t too shabby, considering the number of titles Capcom launched last year. When compiled together, the games gave Capcom an average Metascore of 79.3.  However, Metacritic did note that many of the inclusions were “remasters and/or compilations of previously released games, and there were no new properties added to Capcom’s lineup.”

Interestingly, Sony Interactive Entertainment landed in the middle of the best publisher ranking at number six, up one from its rank in 2017. Despite launching critically lauded titles such as God of War, which had a 94 Metascore and counts as Sony’s best overall release, the publisher had an average Metascore of 71.8. Sony’s average most notably tanked due to the critically panned Bravo Team, Supermassive’s PlayStation VR shooter that had a 45 Metascore.

Other noteworthy rankings on the list included Sega’s place at number two, with an average Metascore of 78.5. Electronic Arts made the list at number three, followed by Nintendo’s placing at the number four spot, down from its position of number two in 2017.

[Source: Metacritic via Wccftech]