Metacritic has released its 11th annual game publisher rankings, crowning SEGA its publisher of the year following a strong slate of releases in 2020.
We’re excited to announce that SEGA is @metacritic‘s 2021 Publisher of the Year!
We’re incredibly proud of all our studios and hard-working staff who made it happen despite the challenging year.
A huge thank you to all our fans who continue to support us! pic.twitter.com/nnOHZS1DjD
— SEGA (@SEGA) March 27, 2021
SEGA earned an average rating of 81.6 percent over 28 titles. Here’s how its games ranked during the year:
- Persona 5 Royal – 95
- Yakuza 0 (Xbox) – 90
- Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 – 80
- Yakuza Kiwami 2 (Xbox) – 88
- Persona 4 Golden (PC) – 87
- Football Manager 2021 – 85
- Yakuza Like A Dragon – 85
- 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim – 85
- Two Point Hospital – 84
- Sega Ages: Fantasy Zone – 84
- Bayonetta & Vanquish Collection – 84
- Sega Ages: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – 83
- Yakuza 5 (PS4) – 82
- Yakuza Kiwami (Xbox) – 81
- Sega Ages: Thunder Force AC – 80
- Total War: Three Kingdoms – Furios Wild – 80
- Total War: Three Kingdoms – A World Betrayed – 80
- Total War: Three Kingdoms – Mandate of Heaven – 80
- Catherine Full Body (Switch) – 80
- Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Megamix – 79
- Sega Ages: Puyo Puyo 2 – 78
- Yakuza 4 (PS4) – 78
- Sega Ages: Shinobi – 78
- Yakuza 3 (PS4) – 77
- Total War: Troy – 75
- Sega Ages: G-LOC Air Battle – 74
- Sakura Wars – 73
- Panzer Dragoon (Switch) – 63
“Now in its seventh decade, the Japanese gaming company had quite a good 2020, shooting up 17 places in our annual rankings to take the crown as our #1 publisher of the year,” wrote Metacritic. “Sega’s average Metascore was actually a fraction of a point below that of our #2 publisher, Annapurna, but Sega was boosted into the top slot by virtue of having two stellar 2020 games – though both (including Metacritic’s 2020 Game of the Year, Persona 5 Royal) were ports of previously existing titles to new platforms.”
Alongside SEGA and Annapurna, Capcom, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Activision Blizzard rounded up the top five, respectively.