My top 5 favorite game companies are....

1. Nintendo - best first party software. Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Donkey Kong, Kirby and more. Their hardware is a hit and miss most of the time, there's always some sort of flaw I always find with their hardware (like the Switch has no way to turn off unless you push the physical power button) but when it comes to software, no one can beat them.

2. Square Enix - some of my most favorite RPGs and game series are from SE - Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Star Ocean, Mana, etc.

3. Capcom - grew up playing series like Street Fighter, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Mega Man, etc.

4. Bandai Namco - similar to Capcom but to a lesser extent. Tekken, Soulcalibur, Tales series and their anime line up of games are my favorite from them.

5. SEGA/Atlus - never owned a single SEGA system but only played with the Genesis. However their output after their console exit has been great. Big fan of Sonic, Streets of Rage, Shining Force, Persona, SMT series, and the Vanillaware games they publish.

Honorable mentions....

NIS - Disgaea and other SRPG series

Falcom - Ys and Legend of Heroes

Sony - my favorite western developer, a lot of great IPs like God of War, Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, etc - they would be my #6 if this was a top 10 list.

Rockstar - my second favorite western game company - GTA and Red Dead all the way! GTA 6 will be day 1!

Anyways, this is my top 25 based upon the number of games I finished.

Similar to antigin I split it between 20th century and today.

20th century:

Today:

1. Square Enix
2. Sega
3. Fromsoftware
4. Atlus (Could be counted with Sega, but I think they're quite distinct)
5. Nintendo

In no order:

Atlus
Nintendo
FromSoftware
id Software
Platinum Games (though Platinum has been quite disappointing as of lately)

Honorable mentions: Sega, Bandai Namco, Inti Creates, Remedy

1. Square Enix
2. Atlus

If this was a historical list, I’d definitely list studios like Rare, Konami, etc. But it’s super difficult to maintain excellence for decades at a time.

Here’s my active list:

1) Nintendo. Like I said, it’s hard to maintain excellence for decades but Nintendo has been publishing GOTY contenders for 40 years without interruption. And some of its finest games are from the last six years. Not every Nintendo title is a winner, but the company has a fun-forward design philosophy that really speaks to me.

2. Capcom. The only company that can compete with Nintendo in both quality and longevity. Unlike a lot of amazing studios from the 80s, 90s, and 00s that have since fallen off a cliff, Capcom endures and continues to make hit after hit after hit. Just look at 2023 alone.

3. From Software. While the studio’s games don’t show much gameplay diversity, they’re brilliant examples of the medium. This is the rare company that I expect to turn out a generationally great game each and every time.

4. Atlus. Purveyor of deep, rewarding, addictive role-playing games.

5. Platinum Games. A little inconsistent but no studio does high-octane, stylish action like Platinum. I get excited about every new release.

If the new Prince of Persia delivers, I might move Ubisoft Montpellier up into the top five.

This actually is a combo of historical and current list! That's why I included a studio in my list that has been defunct for the past 14 years lol. 

I've got to go with:

1. Xbox/Zenimax/ABK- There is no denying that Xbox deserves the number 1 spot now imo. Huge stable of owned studios now, all releasing day one onto Gamepass soon, making Gamepass the best value in gaming. Numerous studios winning "Best Workplace Awards" including Compulsion winning Best Workplace in Canada awards several years in a row now. Overall good gaming hardware. Strong supporters of PC gaming.

2. Sega- My childhood favorite and still very deserving of a high spot, with the Like A Dragon series in the best spot it has ever been in, Sonic finding it's footing again in recent years with Sonic Frontiers making the top 5 on the Player's Voice award voting at The Game Awards 2022, Atlus ever growing in popularity and now releasing multiplatform, and the recent 5 rebooted franchise trailer at The Game Awards. Good PC support with a block of mostly western studios who all make PC-centric titles.

3. Sony- Though I have some personal issues with the way that Sony chooses to do business and take issue with the direction that Ryan took them in in the last few years, there is no denying they deserve a spot in the top 5 imo. Number 1 in hardware and outselling PS4, overall the highest production value AAA exclusives of the 3 console makers, their games tend to review well and win lots of awards, and I like several of their exclusive franchises.  

4. Nintendo- Though I have never been a big Nintendo fan personally, there is no denying they are a critical and fan darling of the industry. I do wish they would focus a bit more on higher end hardware than they do and focus a bit more on "adult" exclusives, but I do enjoy Pokemon, Fire Emblem, and a few of their other franchises.

5. Capcom- Their direction the last few years is something I like to see. They have been one of the best supporters of Xbox among the Japanese publishers, their Resident Evil remakes have all been great and the new games pretty solid as well, Dragon's Dogma 2 looks great, they have a few other upcoming games that interest me as well. The upwards trend is clear to see in their stock value, around about 2015 their market cap was down to about $1b, but their stock value started ballooning around 2018 eventually hitting $9b, since then their stock value has settled somewhat to it's current value of about $6.9b.

Sega,Microsoft, Nintendo, Valve, Sony

Leaving out the ethics of the companies (since many are repugnant)
Publishers
1. Nintendo
2. Atlus
3. Sony
4. Square Enix
5. LucasArts
Honorable mentions: Telltale Games, Bandai Namco
Developers
1. Nintendo EPD: Merged from EAD and SPD. Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing, need I say more?
2. P-Studio: Persona
3. Intelligent Systems: Paper Mario, Fire Emblem, WarioWare
4. HAL Laboratory: First 3 Smash Games, Mother 2 and 3
5. Bandai Namco Studios: Soulcalibur, Smash 4 and Ultimate
Honorable mentions: Telltale Games, Monolith Soft