According to Metacritic's Annual Game Publisher Rankings for 2020, Electronic Arts is not counted in the top twenty highest-rated publishers of the year, which is very interesting indeed.
Electronic Arts, which publishes popular titles like Apex Legends, FIFA, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and The Sims, has been through the wringer recently. At the start of the year, Anthem's fate was all to play for, as rumours swirled that the company was no longer proceeding with the Next reboot. The community made their pleas loud and clear, but the writing was on the wall for the unfortunate looter-shooter and the game is now shut down. This freed up developer BioWare to focus on the single-player side of the upcoming Dragon Age 4 - hang on, that game was going to be a live service title?! What on earth was the reason for that?
Advert
This reveal was soon swept under the carpet when it came about that an employee had been selling FIFA 21 Ultimate Team packs on the internet for thousands upon thousands of dollars. Eesh. "A thorough investigation is underway, and if we identify improper conduct, we will take swift action," said the publisher of the debacle. "We want to be clear - this type of behaviour is unacceptable, and we in no way condone what is alleged to have happened here." It's important to strike while the iron is hot, and while all eyes were on FIFA 21, a player decided to calculate how long it would take to unlock everything on the game without paying a penny. The answer: it's two and a half years of non-stop gaming. Of course, you could fork out for the chance of getting a 100 million coin team, and that'd only cost... £80,000 in FIFA Points.
So. You get the picture. A company that appears to only be interested in making missteps and a community that is tired of finding excuses for those big cheeses at the top. Funnily enough, the data seems to paint a similar picture over on the 11th Annual Metacritic Rankings. Publishers around the globe are judged on the quality of their releases in 2020, using only critic reviews and excluding sales statistics. Electronic Arts settles for 21st place with an average Metascore of 72.6, accruing 249.5 points of a possible 450. Those with titles gaining a Metascore of 90 or above get five extra points for each title, which means that there is no ceiling for the awards.
Here are the top ten: SEGA, Annapurna Interactive, Capcom, Sony, Activision Blizzard, Xbox Game Studios, Aksys Games, No More Robots, Nintendo, Devolver Digital. Surprised? I am, to be honest. I know that Annapurna Interactive games are good, but I hadn't clocked that they would be received so well by the industry as a whole. It is also stunning to see that Sega has secured the crown, but with titles like Yakuza: Like A Dragon and Persona 5 Royal, it easily skyrocketed to the top. At the bottom of the heap is Ultimate Games, who is known for such games as Robot Squad Simulator X and Wanking Simulator. Can't think why those didn't resonate with the media.
Featured Image Credit: EA