The Best Video Game Publishers Of 2024 According To Metacritic
Last year saw dozens of games earn critical acclaim, as studios went all out to deliver exciting and novel experiences. As usual, publishers big and small helped get these games out the door, and GameSpot sister site Metacritic has rounded up a list of the companies that earned the highest metascores for the games they published.
Similar to last year's look at the best video game publishers, there was a set of rules to help determine the winners here. Metacritic used a points system that was calculated by factoring in the average Metascore for each publisher's games released in 2024. This was worked out by the following criteria:
- The percentage of products that achieved a "great" Metascore of 90 and above
- The percentage of products that achieved a "good" Metascore of 75 and above
- The percentage of products that achieved a "bad" Metascore of 49 or less
Only approved critic reviews were used to evaluate the performance of each company, and a publisher needed to have at least five games released during the year to qualify.
For 2024, Capcom dropped from the top spot to second place, with Sega being crowned the best publisher of 2024. The company had an especially good year, as it handled the international publishing for Metaphor: ReFantazio--Atlus published it in Japan--the JRPG that was one of the best-reviewed games of the year.
If you're interested in finding out more, you can click the link above for a detailed breakdown at Metacritic, or you can scroll down for a quick look at where each video game publisher ended up in the 2024 standings. These include multiplatform games, with the top-rated 2024 version being listed in parentheses.
37. Fulqrum Publishing
Best 2024 game: Forgive Me Father 2 (PC)
36. Nacon
Best 2024 game: Ravenswatch (Xbox Series X|S)
35. PQube
Best 2024 game: Celestia: Chain of Fate (Switch)
34. Perpetual (Perp Games)
Best 2024 game: Vertigo 2 (PS5)
33. THQ Nordic
Best 2024 game: SpellForce: Conquest of Eo - Demon Scourge (PC)
32. Humble Games
Best 2024 game: Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical - Orpheus (PC)
31. Atari
Best 2024 game: Qwomp2 (Switch)
30. Maximum Entertainment
Best 2024 game: Wild Bastards (PS5)
29. Secret Mode
Best 2024 game: Loddlenaut (Switch)
28. 3D Realms
Best 2024 Game: Bloodless (PC)
27. Bandai Namco
Best 2024 game: Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (Xbox Series X|S)
26. Team17
Best 2024 game: Dredge: The Iron Rig (PC)
25. Konami
Best 2024 game: Castlevania: The Dominus Collection (Switch)
24. NIS America
Best 2024 game: The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak (PS5)
23. Electronic Arts
Best 2024 game: The Sims 4: Life & Death (PC)
22. Nintendo
Best 2024 game: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Switch)
21. Super Rare Games
Best 2024 game: Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines (PC)
20. Plaion
Best 2024 game: System Shock (Xbox Series X|S)
19. Idea Factory
Best 2024 game: 9 RIP (Switch)
18. Ubisoft
Best 2024 game: Prince of Persia: The Lost Prince (Switch)
17. ININ Games (United Games Ent.)
Best 2024 game: Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble 3 (PS5)
16. Red Art Games
Best 2024 game: Promenade (Xbox Series X|S)
15. Digital Eclipse
Best 2024 game: Tetris Forever (Xbox Series X|S)
14. Plug In Digital
Best 2024 game: Mindcop (PC)
13. Devolver Digital
Best 2024 game: The Talos Principle 2: Road to Elysium (PC)
12. Take-Two Interactive
Best 2024 game: Red Dead Redemption Featuring Undead Nightmare (PC)
11. Kepler Interactive
Best 2024 game: Cat Quest 3 (Switch)
10. Annapurna Interactive
Best 2024 game: Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (PS5)
9. Microsoft (includes Bethesda and Activision/Blizzard releases)
Best 2024 game: Pentiment (Switch)
8. Raw Fury
Best 2024 game: Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley (PC)
7. Square Enix
Best 2024 game: Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth (PS5)
6. Gamera Games
Best game: Shogun Showdown (PC)
5. Focus Entertainment
Best 2024 game: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (Xbox Series X|S)
4. Sony
Best 2024 game: Astro Bot (PS5)
3. Aksys Games
Best 2024 game: Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II (Switch)
2. Capcom
Best 2024 game: Dragon's Dogma 2 (PC)
1. Sega
Best 2024 game: Metaphor ReFantazio (PS5)
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