An exhaustive report – combining factors like game sales, Metacritic averages and developer feedback through Gamasutra – has concluded creating the first-ever Top 50 Developers list from Game Developer magazine. Coming in at the top of the list is, but of course, Nintendo’s Kyoto studio, followed by Infinity Ward, Blizzard, EA Canada, and Valve.
The top 20 are as follows, along with some of their notable 2007 releases:
- Nintendo Kyoto (Brain Age, Wii Play)
- Infinity Ward (Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare)
- Blizzard Entertainment (World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade)
- Electronic Arts Canada (FIFA Soccer 08, NBA Street: Homecourt)
- Valve (Portal, Team Fortress 2)
- Konami Japan Studio (Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer, Dance Dance Revolution Universe)
- Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank Future)
- Capcom Osaka Studio (Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Monster Hunter Freedom)
- Electronic Arts Tiburon (Madden NFL 08, NASCAR 08)
- BioWare Edmonton (Mass Effect, Jade Empire: Special Edition)
- Bungie Studios (Halo 3)
- Ubisoft Montreal (Assassin’s Creed, Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja)
- 2K Boston [& Australia] (BioShock)
- Harmonix (Rock Band)
- Bandai Namco Tokyo (Ace Combat 6: Fires Of Liberation, Beautiful Katamari)
- Square Enix Tokyo (Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Front Mission DS)
- Game Freak (Pokemon Diamond/Pearl)
- Epic Games (Unreal Tournament 3, Gears Of War PC)
- Hudson Soft (Mario Party 8, Mario Party DS)
- Neversoft (Guitar Hero III, Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground)
The full list and all of the excruciating minutiae that went into the list can be found at the Game Developer Research website, located here. It’s interesting to see how the top 50 shaped itself; in the top 20 alone I was surprised by several things (Valve not being higher and Hudson Soft being so high, for example) – what do you make of the list?
6 Comments to Nintendo Tops the First “Top 50 Developers” List
by: ManOfTeal
On March 12, 2008 at 11:58 am
Interesting, why combine 2K Boston and 2K Australia but not Electronic Arts Canada and Electronic Arts Tiburon?
by: Casey
On March 12, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I think Nintendo is right where it should be, but IMHO I think valve should be number 2.
by: Chris
On March 12, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I’m assuming 2K Boston and AU were counted as one because they developed BioShock together.
by: da soc
On March 13, 2008 at 1:10 am
WTF is EA canada doing there
by: Gauldar
On March 13, 2008 at 10:32 am
RE: da soc
It’s ranked by game sales. If it was ranked by quality, EA would be way lower on the list.
by: sftsgtbaron!
On March 20, 2008 at 10:41 am
ARE You KIDDING ME MS came out hard and in full force in the last 18 months and nintendo is still in the school yard i bought the wii and all the bells and whistles and i can see myself playing my orginal sega dreamcast more than my wii VERY disappointed GROW UP MR AGE !!!! take some notes from infinity ward and try and create a game that people will like not 20 that suck!