Microsoft barely had any games that could qualify for the Metacritic publisher ranking for the year 2022, despite coming out on top in 2021.
Metacritic published its game publisher ranking for the year 2022, based on the Metascore average of their titles released within the year, and Microsoft was nowhere to be found. In its accompanies summary, the aggregator explained that only publishers with five or more distinct titles released last year are included in its rankings. The summary termed the lack of Microsoft’s presence in the list as a “rather unusual” occurrence, as it had ranked #1 only a year ago in the Metacritic publisher ranking for the year 2021.
As it turns out, Microsoft failed to qualify due to the fact that it had released “an atypically low four distinct scored titles”, therefore falling one title short of Metacritic’s five-game cutoff. Therefore, it was unable to have a position in the overall standings.
Meanwhile, the publisher that trailed Microsoft by one spot last year was none other than Sony Interactive Entertainment. While the latter took the #2 position in 2021, it managed to secure the top spot in 2022, with a combined average Metascore of all its published titles in the year being 85.6. Sony is followed by Paradox Interactive, Activision Blizzard, Focus Entertainment, and Take-Two Interactive, among others.
According to Metacritic, while Sony’s “nothing-but-green-scores” 2022 slate largely consisted of ports and sequels to pre-existing IP, its output was consistently good, led by game-of-the-year candidate God of War Ragnarok and a PC port of the previous God of War release.
With Microsoft preparing to release some major first-party titles in 2023, it could prove to be a more fruitful year for the publisher. The 2023 lineup from the publisher includes Hi-Fi Rush, Minecraft Legends, Redfall, Starfield, and Forza Motorsport. It’s a potentially strong list of titles that could result in Microsoft regaining the top spot.
