Bethesda's Metacritic Scores For 2017 Were The Highest, Beating Nintendo

Review aggregators like Metacritic aren't the end all and be all of a video game's value or ciritcal worth, but they can be useful in determining what the consensus has to say.

Earlier this week, Metacritic published its 2017 list of game publisher rankings that identify which companies came out on top in Metascores. Despite a banner year for Nintendo, it was Bethesda Softworks that came out on top, with an overall Metascore of 79.9 across 12 distinct titles. Metacritic attributed to the increase in Metascore to games like Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Prey.

"The publisher increased its Metascore average by more than six points compared to its 2016 slate thanks to a well-received new entry in the Wolfenstein franchise, a reboot of Prey, a strong Evil Within sequel, and various releases in the Elder Scrolls series," Metacritic wrote. "In all, 91 percent of the company's 2017 products were positively reviewed—the best rate for any publisher."

You may notice behind the link that the publisher rankings and their average Metascores don't align neatly. That's because rankings are point-based and measured against consistency. So while Bethesda didn't have any games with a Metascore of 90 or higher -- qualifying as "great" -- a great percentage of their output qualified as "good" with Metascores of at least 75. 

That's why Nintendo finished in second place, with three "great" games but far less ranked as "good," resulting in a lower overall Metascore. For the schadenfreude-inclined, it's worth noting that EA does not place in Metacritic's top 12. While it's fun to blame this on less than well received games, Metacritic writes that a decreased release slate led to the company's demotion from "major publisher" to "mid-size publisher.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to buy Prey.

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