Square Enix averaged a Metascore of 84 across the 19 scored products it released in 2025, with every one landing at 75 or above. That is its first top finish in 16 editions of Metacritic’s publisher rankings. This post sets those game review score statistics against the previous year’s edition, then against Steam user-review data covering the same release years.
Game Review Score Statistics: Key Numbers
Which Publishers Lead Game Review Score Statistics For 2025?
Metacritic scores publishers on four factors: average Metascore, share of scored products at 75 or above, share at 49 or below, and five bonus points per distinct title reaching 90. Only publishers with five or more distinct titles released in 2025 qualified, leaving 28 in the 16th edition.
Square Enix and Gamirror Games were the only two with no product below 75. Capcom missed a clean sheet on one product, the PC version of Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Remaster.
| Rank | Publisher | Avg Metascore | Share 75+ | Scored products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Square Enix | 84 | 100% | 19 |
| 2 | Gamirror Games | 82 | 100% | 5 |
| 3 | Capcom | 83 | 93% | 15 |
| 4 | Thunderful | 78 | 90% | 10 |
| 5 | Microsoft | 80 | 81% | 43 |
| 6 | Take-Two Interactive | 79 | 80% | 20 |
| 7 | Sega | 80 | 84% | 38 |
| 8 | Electronic Arts | 79 | 79% | 29 |
| 9 | Dotemu | 81 | 76% | 17 |
| 10 | Raw Fury | 79 | 77% | 13 |
Source: Metacritic, 16th Annual Game Publisher Rankings, 2025 releases (scores as of March 13, 2026)
Take-Two rose six spots on a three-point average gain. Its best 2025 product was Borderlands 4 on Xbox at 90, though Metacritic notes PS5 reviewers scored the same game 12 points lower.
Game Review Score Statistics By Publisher: 2024 vs 2025
Metacritic prints a previous-year rank for every entry, which allows a same-publisher comparison across the two editions. Square Enix gained five points and Ubisoft four, by Metacritic’s own count. Sega, first for 2024 releases, fell from 83 to 80.
| Publisher | 2024 share 75+ | 2025 share 75+ |
|---|---|---|
| Square Enix | 81% | 100% |
| Gamirror Games | 83% | 100% |
| Capcom | 100% | 93% |
| Sega | 86% | 84% |
| Microsoft | 77% | 81% |
| Ubisoft | 65% | 81% |
| Take-Two Interactive | 75% | 80% |
| Electronic Arts | 52% | 79% |
| Raw Fury | 83% | 77% |
| Devolver Digital | 65% | 69% |
| Konami | 44% | 68% |
| Nintendo | 54% | 68% |
| PQube | 25% | 67% |
| Atari | 41% | 57% |
| Sony | 73% | 53% |
| Plaion | 59% | 48% |
| Annapurna Interactive | 80% | 47% |
| Bandai Namco | 41% | 43% |
| Nacon/Daedalic | 24% | 27% |
| Idea Factory | 67% | 14% |
Source: Metacritic, 15th and 16th Annual Game Publisher Rankings, 2024 and 2025 releases
Where Review Scores Fell
Sony dropped from 81 to 74 and from fourth place to 21st. Metacritic attributes the fall to titles including two Destiny 2 expansions, Lost Soul Aside and Midnight Murder Club.
Annapurna Interactive slipped from 79 to 75 after four straight top-10 finishes, its positive share halving from 80% to 47%. Idea Factory posted the steepest drop, 73 to 59.
How Many Games Scored 90 Or Above In 2025?
A title needs a Metascore of at least 90 and at least seven critic reviews to earn Metacritic’s bonus points. Nintendo was the only publisher with more than one in 2025, helped by two Switch 2 editions of older Zelda games. That pattern of re-released back catalogue runs through the ranking. For 2024 releases, Sony led all publishers with four.
| Publisher | Titles at 90+ | Best 2025 game | Metascore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nintendo | 3 | Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Switch 2 Edition | 95 |
| Electronic Arts | 1 | Split Fiction (Xbox) | 93 |
| Raw Fury | 1 | Blue Prince (PC) | 92 |
| Microsoft | 1 | Forza Horizon 5 (PS5) | 92 |
| Take-Two Interactive | 1 | Borderlands 4 (Xbox) | 90 |
| Capcom | 1 | Monster Hunter Wilds (Xbox) | 90 |
| Square Enix | 1 | Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (PC) | 90 |
| Dotemu | 1 | Absolum (Switch) | 90 |
| Sony | 1 | The Last of Us Part II Remastered (PC) | 90 |
Source: Metacritic, 16th Annual Game Publisher Rankings, 2025 releases
Which Publishers Released Games Scoring Below 50?
Four of the 28 publishers in the 2025 edition recorded a non-zero share of products at 49 or below. In the 2024 edition, two of 37 did: Bandai Namco at 3% and Perpetual (Perp Games) at 11%. Perp Games did not qualify for the newer ranking.
| Publisher | Share below 50, 2024 | Share below 50, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Idea Factory | 0% | 14% |
| Nacon/Daedalic | 0% | 7% |
| PQube | 0% | 7% |
| Bandai Namco | 3% | 2% |
Source: Metacritic, 15th and 16th Annual Game Publisher Rankings, 2024 and 2025 releases
Metacritic reports only the shares above 75 and below 49. Everything between those marks goes unstated, so the middle of the distribution is the least measured part of any game review score statistics built from this ranking.
Game Review Scores And Steam User Review Volume
Critic Metascores and Steam user reviews count different things. Chris Zukowski tracks the second, using VGInsights data to log how many of a year’s Steam releases pass 1,000 user reviews, a threshold he ties to roughly $150,000 in revenue.
He recorded 20,282 Steam releases in 2025 and 608 that crossed the line, sampled January 4, 2026. The rate slipped in 2023 and 2024, then reached its series high in 2025. Broader Steam catalogue growth sits alongside these counts, as does the wider PC platform revenue picture.
| Release year | Games released | Games passing 1,000 reviews | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12,304 | 337 | 2.74% |
| 2023 | 13,834 | 354 | 2.56% |
| 2024 | 18,239 | 445 | 2.44% |
| 2025 | 20,282 | 608 | 2.99% |
Source: Chris Zukowski, How To Market A Game, 2022–2025 Steam releases (sampled January 4, 2026)
Steam Hit Rate By Genre
Open world survival craft cleared the threshold in 15 of 72 releases, the highest rate of any genre Zukowski tracks. 2D platformers and point-and-click adventures both managed three of 1,658. He notes genre totals rely on Steam tags, which developers often apply loosely, so the denominators are approximations rather than exact counts.
Narrative games took the largest raw count at 51 titles past 1,000 reviews, up from 30 the prior year. Zukowski identified 19 of those as fully translated FMV visual novels from Chinese studios. The revenue split across indie releases follows a similar concentration.
Does Output Volume Move Game Review Scores?
Bandai Namco recorded 56 scored products in 2025 at an average of 73. Microsoft logged 43 at 80 and Sega 38 at 80. Square Enix topped the ranking on 19 products, and Gamirror Games placed second on five.
At the other end, Idea Factory’s seven products averaged 59. Output and score do not line up in one direction across the 28 publishers, and Metacritic does not report a relationship between the two.
Metacritic’s ranked publishers cover a narrow slice of what ships. The 2025 edition counts scored products only from publishers with five or more distinct titles, against 20,282 Steam releases that year and a much larger global release and revenue base. Take-Two’s 2026 placement will likely turn on Rockstar’s next release, following the GTA franchise’s sales record.
FAQs
Which publisher had the best game review scores in 2025?
Square Enix, with an average Metascore of 84 across 19 scored products and 100% of them at 75 or above. It was the publisher’s first number one finish in 16 editions of Metacritic’s rankings.
How many games scored 90 or above in 2025?
Nintendo was the only publisher with more than one title at 90-plus, recording three. Sony, Capcom, Square Enix, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Dotemu and Raw Fury each recorded one.
Is the survivorship bias complaint Reddit raises about Steam hit rates fair?
Chris Zukowski addresses it directly by publishing genre denominators next to hit counts. Open world survival craft reached 1,000 reviews in 15 of 72 releases; 2D platformers managed three of 1,658.
Are there too many roguelike deckbuilders, as Reddit threads claim?
Zukowski disputes it. Of 212 roguelike deckbuilders released on Steam in 2025, 11 passed 1,000 user reviews, a 5.1% rate against 4.1% for simulation and 3.2% for horror.
Did the bottom of the review scale get used in 2025?
Yes. Four of 28 ranked publishers recorded products at 49 or below: Idea Factory at 14%, Nacon/Daedalic and PQube at 7% each, and Bandai Namco at 2%. Two of 37 did so a year earlier.
Sources
https://www.metacritic.com/pictures/2026-game-publisher-rankings/
https://www.metacritic.com/pictures/2025-game-publisher-rankings/
https://howtomarketagame.com/2026/01/27/what-the-hell-happened-in-2025/