A recent Metacritic analysis of major gaming companies unexpectedly ranks Xbox ahead of Sony and Nintendo based on their planned releases for 2025. Despite facing challenges and questions about its future in recent years – even as the brand celebrates its 25th anniversary – Xbox is making bold moves. In 2024, Xbox began releasing some of its games on other platforms, and in 2025, it’s taking this strategy further by bringing popular franchises like Gears of War and Forza to PlayStation. Microsoft has also announced that the next Halo game will be released on a competing platform.
Xbox has recently dealt with challenges including job cuts, shutting down some game development studios, and canceling games people were looking forward to, such as Perfect Dark. Last year, Microsoft also raised the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to $30 a month, a move that upset some players. This year brought further change with the announcements that Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft Gaming, and Xbox president Sarah Bond would be leaving. Now, with Asha Sharma taking over as CEO, Xbox is entering a period of significant change and transition.
Metacritic Ranks Microsoft Fifth Among Gaming Publishers, Ahead of Nintendo and Sony
Okay, so Metacritic dropped their list of the best game publishers for 2026, looking at all the games that came out in 2025, and Xbox actually did really well! We’re talking fifth place overall, which is pretty awesome, especially since we beat out Nintendo and Sony. Looking at all the games Xbox released – including stuff from Bethesda and Activision Blizzard – the average Metacritic score was 80. Nintendo came in at 12th with a 77, and Sony was way back at 21st with a 74. Honestly, the biggest surprise for me was the Forza Horizon 5 port on PlayStation 5 – it got a 92! That’s a huge score and definitely helped boost our overall ranking.
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As a fan, I was really impressed with Microsoft’s lineup in 2025! It wasn’t just Xbox games doing well – the PlayStation 5 version of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle actually scored an 86, making it the second-highest rated title. The top spot went to Activision’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 on Xbox, also with an 86. From Xbox Game Studios themselves, The Outer Worlds 2 was the biggest hit, earning an 83. Of course, not everything was perfect – Metacritic mentioned that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (from Activision) and the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants DLC (from Bethesda) got somewhat mixed reviews, but overall it was a fantastic year!
Full List of Publishers Ranked According to Metacritic
- Square Enix
- Gamirror Games
- Capcom
- Thunderful
- Microsoft
- Take-Two Interactive
- Sega
- Electronic Arts
- Dotemu
- Raw Fury
- Ubisoft
- Nintendo
- Koei Tecmo
- Devolver Digital
- Konami
- DONTNOD Entertainment
- Marvelous/XSEED
- Clear River Games
- PQube
- Atari
- Sony
- Plaion
- Annapurna Interactive
- Bandai Namco
- Microids
- Nacon/Daedalic
- Arc System Works
- Idea Factory
Although Microsoft’s achievement is notable, the high number might be misleading due to the sheer volume of game releases. Sony’s score was based on 13 games with 17 different versions, and Nintendo’s on 18 games with 19 versions. Microsoft, however, achieved its score with 21 games and a significantly higher 43 releases. This difference stems from Microsoft’s release strategy in 2025; unlike Sony and Nintendo, they released several older games on other consoles and made many of their new titles available on multiple platforms.
This is welcome news for Microsoft, especially after a series of setbacks for the Xbox brand. While 2026 will be a period of uncertainty for Xbox, with key leadership changes and a new CEO, this positive Metacritic ranking offers a boost as the company navigates this transition. Despite the upcoming Project Helix console and promising new games, questions about Xbox’s future remain, but this news provides a moment of optimism during what’s shaping up to be a pivotal 25th anniversary year.
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2026-03-26 01:40