Metacritic ranks EA as 2012's best major publisher
EA bests Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo in Metacritic's publisher rankings, with Take-Two taking top honors in mid-sized publisher list.
Metacritic has ranked Electronic Arts as the best major publisher of 2012, with the critic-aggregating service reporting that Mass Effect 3 was EA's best-reviewed title with a Metascore of 93.
EA has jumped up four places in Metacritic's charts since last year, overtaking Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo--second, third and fourth in the chart respectively.
Medal of Honor: Warfighter, which received a 6.0 in its GameSpot review, was EA's worst-performing title on Metacritic, with a Metascore of 53. EA has subsequently retired the series, though it maintains that critics were too harsh on the FPS.
Metacritic also calculated a chart for what it deemed mid-sized publishers, which featured Borderlands 2 publisher Take-Two, Hitman: Absolution owning Square Enix and the Skyrim-toting Bethesda Softworks, amongst others.
Metacritic calculated its placement based on attributing a number of points to each publisher, starting with 1.5 times the average Metascore of its 2012 titles. It then added up to 100 points based on the percentage of games which received a good (75-89 Metascore) rating, subtracting up to 100 points based on the percentage of games which received a bad (20-49 Metascore) rating, and adding a 10-point bonus for every game which received a great (90-100 Metascore) rating.
Metacritic's 3rd annual rankings for major publishers (and average Metascore):
Major publishers:
1. EA (75.2)
2. Microsoft (73.0)
3. Sony (72.3)
4. Nintendo (71.2)
5. Capcom (70.4)
6. Warner Bros. (70.6)
7. Ubisoft (68.2)
8. Konami (69)
9. SEGA (69.9)
10. Activision Blizzard (64.4)
11. Namco Bandai (62.5)
Mid-sized publishers:
1. Take-Two Interactive (83.1)
2. Telltale Games (83.9)
3. Square Enix (75.2)
4. Bethesda Softworks (74.3)
5. THQ (73.7)
6. Atlus (69.8)
7. XSEED (66.8)
8. Paradox Interactive (62.1)
9. Focus Home Interactive (60.5)
10. 505 Games (53.3)
Note: Metacritic is owned by GameSpot's parent company CBS Interactive.
