For the 16th year in a row, Metacritic has named the publisher of the year. In 2026, Square Enix received the highest ratings for the games it released in 2025 on the review aggregator platform. The top-rated publisher in the GSA region was Plaion.
Which game publishers released the best games in 2025? Metacritic tries to answer this question for the 16th year in a row. The scores are based solely on aggregated critics' scores, not user scores. A score is calculated based on the average Metascore for the publisher's games, plus the percentage of products with good reviews (Metascore >= 75), the percentage of products with bad reviews (Metascore <= 49), and the number of "great" titles (Metascore >= 90).
For the first time in the 16 years of these rankings, Metacritic's #1 Publisher of the Year is Square Enix. A variety of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest titles scored highly for the publisher. Sega was in first place last year; before that, it was Capcom.
Second place goes to Gamirror Games, formerly Gamera Games, a Chinese indie publisher often credited as a co-publisher of several PC game releases, including Dotemu's Absolum. Dotemu, meanwhile, came in at number 9. Capcom, second last year, rounds off the top three. The Japanese company has got off to a flying start in 2026 with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection and Resident Evil Requiem.
Ubisoft came 11th (21 products, eight titles, 81% positive), Nintendo placed 12th (19 products, 18 titles, 68% positive) and Sony ranked 21st (17 products, 13 titles, 53% positive). Idea Factory took the last spot with an average Metascore of 59.
Plaion (Deep Silver, Prime Matter, Milestone and Vertigo Games) ranks 22nd with an average Metascore of 76 across 21 products and 10 titles - mainly thanks to Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. No other German-speaking publisher ranks higher. Nacon and Daedalic Entertainment are grouped together, ranking 26th with an average Metascore of 67 across 15 products and eight titles. The rankings only include publishers with five or more distinct titles released last year, which is why THQ Nordic, Inin Games, and Focus Entertainment are missing from the list.
