For 16 years now, Metacritic has been combing through its data and compiling a list of the best video game publishers based on the scores every game receives. For the first time that list is topped by major publisher Square Enix.
The 2026 Metacritic Publisher Rankings was published earlier today which highlights the 2025 publishing year. As is always the case with these listings the scoring is a bit more complicated than simply “highest average score wins” as Metacritic uses a point based system based off a variety of things. Those things include things like the percentage of great, good and bad reviews as well as the overall average.
Additionally in order to make the list a publisher had to release at least 5 distinct titles could be included. In 2025 28 publishers reached that threshold, down from 37 in 2024, with Square Enix coming out on top. It should be noted here that this list includes all ports of games, so things like Forza Horizon 5 and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth count due to ports to other systems.
It was a year of consistency for Square Enix as they released 19 products (9 unique titles) in 2025, 18 of which garnered a “good” rating 1 also received a “great” rating. A great rating is anything 90 and above. That 90? The Final Fantasy VII Rebirth PC port. In 2024 Square Enix finished 6th overall.
With Square Enix topping the list in 2025 that also means a Japanese publisher has topped the list 4 years in a row with Sega winning in 2024, Capcom in 2023 and Sony in 2022. You have to go all the way back to 2021 to find a western publisher on top with Microsoft taking the top spot.
Other Notable Rankings
Outside of Square Enix many companies had a great year, with the runner up being lesser known Gamirror Games, most known for their standout title Absolum. Coming in 3rd was Capcom which was led by Monster Hunter Wilds. Capcom is already off to a fantastic start in 2026 with Resident Evil Requim and Monster Hunter Stories 3 doing very well.
Thunderful Games (4th) and Microsoft (5th) round out the top 5 for this years edition of the list. Interestingly most of Microsoft’s heavy lifting for its ranking came from its work porting its games to rival PlayStation, with Forza Horizon 5 being its lone “great” title in 2025.
Speaking of PlayStation, Sony had a down year by its standards as they fell all the way down to 21st on the list. Despite having a game reach the “great” ranking (The Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered PC) and releasing solid titles in Death Stranding 2 and Ghost Of Yotei, the publisher was brought down significantly by some poor showings. The company got dinged for its Destiny 2 DLC’s as well as being the publisher for Lost Soul Aside and Midnight Murder Club.
Lastly the third and final platform holder, Nintendo had a solid year landing in the 12th position, though it is a tad misleading. Nintendo was the clear winner in 2025 in terms of “great” games with 3, however all of them were Nintendo Switch 2 ports. Infact the new titles they did produce are what held them back with Welcome Tour and Drag x Drive dragging them down.
Looking ahead 2026 is already off to such a strong start so the competition for next years list is already underway. And for the first time ever, Gamer Social Club will play a small part in this having become a member of Metacritic! See you next year.
