The best RPG of 2024 secures the top spot for Sega in Metacritic’s annual ranks

The numbers never lie, and now that we’ve got our hands on Metacritic’s game publisher rankings, we can see for ourselves just where our favorites ended up on the list. Everyone is, of course, entitled to their opinion, and there were some truly incredible game releases in the last 12 months. But now we get to stoke the competitive fires, especially since user reviews and sales don’t factor into the rankings.

Every year, Metacritic gathers the data of each game’s Metascore and then collates that info into a handy list, taking into account the average Metascore, percentage of scored games with good or bad reviews, and the number of ‘great’ titles with a Metascore of 90 or higher. If you’re keen to dig through the data yourself, you can check out the list here.

Sega took the top spot on Metacritic’s annual publisher rankings for 2024, after only just scraping the top ten in 2023, which is a great comeback since it makes the Japanese publisher the only company ever to rank number one three separate times. Sega enjoyed massive success with the likes of one of the best JRPGs, Metaphor: ReFantazio, which, considering it’s a completely new IP, is nice to see that the market doesn’t have to be completely inundated with remakes, sequels, and prequels. Even with the slight disappointment of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Sega still managed to come out the victor.

Capcom was hot on its tail, however, coming in at a close second, largely thanks to Dragon’s Dogma 2. The Japanese publisher is likely looking to the future, with the recently released Monster Hunter Wilds becoming the fastest-selling title in Capcom’s history. Sadly, Nintendo dropped a considerable amount in the rankings to settle at the 22nd spot on the list. A whopping four Mario titles received a Metascore of 77 or lower, with the best of the bunch being Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. However, the Switch 2 should be coming very, very soon, and so we’re confident that Nintendo will set its sights on domination next year.

Both Microsoft and Sony secured their spots in the top ten, but it was Sony that won this particular battle, coming in at number four. Astro Bot was a massive hit and was chosen as both Metacritic’s and TGA’s Game of the Year in 2024. But Sony also had the remastered version of The Last of Us Part II, which we’re very much looking forward to playing on the Steam Deck later this year, as well as a PC-ported God of War: Ragnarok to offer. Despite a few wobbles, Sony definitely deserved such a high place in the ranks after so many successful releases.

Microsoft barely scraped the top ten, coming in at number nine with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, World of Warcraft: The War Within, and Bethesda’s new Indiana Jones game. However, Microsoft’s worst scored game of 2024 was also a Bethesda offering, and to absolutely no one’s surprise, it happened to be Starfield’s DLC, Shattered Space. However, the best Microsoft game was actually a Nintendo Switch release, but the narrative-driven Pentiment wasn’t quite enough to push the publisher any higher.

You’ll be pleased to hear that most of the games featured in Metacritic’s ranking are playable on Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch, so if you’re looking for something new to play anywhere you go, check out our picks for the best Steam Deck games and the best Switch games, plus we take a look at whether you can play Monster Hunter Wilds on Steam Deck, too. Or, if you’re just after some freebies, we’ve got all the new Tribe Nine codes and Infinity Nikki codes for you.