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Ranking of Publishers - Personal Favorites

by slag

Probably a weird thing to rank, but back when I started gaming Publisher brands were what I knew. It wasn't till much much later that I learned that developers were potentially and usually separate entities from Publishers. But even so, I still tend to think of game makers by the Publisher brands. There's places where that still makes some sense and an increasingly large number of cases where it doesn't.

To keep things sane in light of hordes of self published Indie games, gonna limit to Publishers that I think are at least AA sized publishers and also to current formations of ownership (E.g. Bandai Namco will be ranked based on the combination of both Bandai and Namco).

  • God Tier- These companies pretty much own real estate in my wallet
  • Tier 1 - If I see their logo on something, I'm probably buying it at full price or close to it
  • Tier 2 - You have my interest,my attention and also probably my money at the first decent sale
  • Tier 3 - Generally will buy some of their output, but rarely at full price
  • Tier 4 - Will do some research into a game, if I see their name on it.
  • Tier 5 - I'll consider buying games from these publishers if I have an opening in my schedule and the game looks good
  • Tier 6 - These publishers are mostly ok, not necessarily my thing.
  • Tier 7- I don't know why I continue to buy these
  • Deponia Tier - Kill it with Fire

Showing 1-10 of 38 items

Nintendo

1. Nintendo

God Tier- I'm not sure I've ever bought a Nintendo branded game I didn't like. Nintendo made me a gamer and I'll probably play their games until I die. Highlight Franchises- Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Fire Emblem, Wars, Smash,F-Zero, Mario Kart

Square Enix

2. Square Enix

Tier 1- This is a tricky tossup between it and Capcom for me. Capcom has a wider variety of types of games I like and rarely makes anything I don't like. Square Enix has more uneven output but their highpoints are among my very favorite games. Highlight Franchises- Final Fantasy, Chrono, FF: Tactics, Dragon Quest, Tomb Raider, Hitman

Capcom

3. Capcom

Tier 1- This is a tricky tossup between it and Square Enix for me. Capcom has a wider variety of types of games I like and rarely makes anything I don't like. Square Enix has more uneven output but their highpoints are among my very favorite games. Highlight Franchises- Dragon's Dogma, Street Fighter, Monster Hunter, Mega Man, Dino Crisis, Ace Attorney

Activision Blizzard, Inc.

4. Activision Blizzard, Inc.

Tier 1- Basically here for the parts of Activision that aren't Activision. Namely Blizzard and Sierra Highlight Franchises- Warcraft, Starcraft, Overwatch, Quest for Glory, King's Quest, Diablo

Konami

5. Konami

Tier 1- once upon a time Konami might have been my second favorite, but they've basically exited the gaming business. While I'm not a fan of their business practices, I'm more in the "Fuck, Konami" camp than the "Fuck Konami" camp. Highlight Franchises- Contra, Castlevania,Suikoden, Metal Gear

LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC

6. LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC

Tier 2- Sadly Defunct, LA used to make some of the best adventure games and some pretty decent Star Wars/Indiana Jones games. Highlight Franchises - Monkey Island, Star Wars, Indiana Jones

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7. Ubisoft Entertainment

Tier 2- There's just something always missing from Ubi games for me that keeps them from being all time faves. Generally always a good time though. Highlight Franchises- Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Far Cry, Ass Creed

Sony Interactive Entertainment America

8. Sony Interactive Entertainment America

Tier 2- Sony's output is another that I often really like, but not generally enough on its own to justify buying the console just for their 1st party stuff alone. It's close though Highlight Franchises- Uncharted, Jak & Daxter, Gravity Rush, God of War, Last of US, Arc the Lad, NFL gameday, MLB the Show

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.

9. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.

Tier 2- I'm more of a Firaxis fan than a Rockstar fan, but I like them both. 2K games themselves are kinda ehhh Highlight Franchises- Civilization, XCOM, Red Dead, Bioshock

Electronic Arts

10. Electronic Arts

Tier 2- Would not be this high if they didn't buy Bioware. I have a love/hate relationship with those games Highlight Franchises- Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Madden/NCAA Football, MVP baseball, Mirror's Edge

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