Gone are the days of Xbox sitting in last place, or so I’d like to say if you squint hard enough and ignore hardware sales. Still, a win's a win! And win Xbox has, or rather Microsoft, having been ranked the 5th best game publisher based on Metacritic scores, landing at 305.7 points.
Now, 305.7 points doesn’t mean much on its own, so here’s what that actually represents. Metacritic ranks publishers using a 400-point system based entirely on critic reviews.
The biggest factor is the average Metascore, worth up to 150 points, calculated at 1.5 times the average score. Consistency also plays an important role here, with up to 100 points awarded based on how many games score 75 or higher, and another 100 tied to avoiding low scores below 50.
As well as that, each game scoring 90 or higher adds a small 5-point bonus, rewarding standout hits. Only publishers with at least five releases in the year are included.
Xbox has had a very solid 2025, averaging a Metascore of 80 thanks to releases like Avowed, Hellblade 2, The Outer Worlds 2, Ninja Gaiden 4, and DOOM: The Dark Ages.
However, as Metacritic notes, two of its highest-scoring games came from PlayStation 5 releases. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Forza Horizon 5 both count toward Xbox’s overall score here.
Turning away from Xbox, Nintendo lands in 12th place with a Metascore of 77. That comes from releases like the latest Donkey Kong, though it is dragged down by Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, which still feels like it should have been a free pack-in.
Much further down the list is Sony, with an average Metascore of 74. Despite standout releases like Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yotei, it couldn’t match its previous year’s performance, dropping to 21st place with 268.5 points.
For those wondering, in first place is Square Enix! A surprise for sure and also their first time ever being ranked number 1 on Metacritic's publisher rankings.
Does Xbox deserve 5th place on Metacritic's 2025 list of best publishers?
It’s hard to deny that Xbox has found its stride lately with game releases and overall output, and while arguments can be made that it’s too late, those are questions for another day.
Here, I think Xbox has earned its spot. It had a strong 2025, delivering one solid release after another.
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