Bethesda’s 2017 releases have been praised by critics on Metacritic, which is a site that posts reviews from critics and publications around the globe. The site’s score for the upcoming Fallout 76 is a perfect 10/10, which it’s only beaten by Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey, which also has a perfect score, and the top 3 games are all Nintendo releases: Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Splatoon 2.

Bethesda released a lot of great games in 2017, and it looks like they will continue this trend in 2018. The company scored an average of 90.13 in 2017, and they ended the year with the highest average score they’ve ever received. In fact, their Metacritic score was higher than any other game publisher, which is no mean feat. Nintendo was the only other major publisher to have a better average score than Bethesda, with an average of 80.59.

Bethesda has always had high scores on Metacritic. In fact, since 2011, the company has had the best average scores of any developer. However, 2017 was a huge year for Bethesda, with the company delivering some of the best games of the year, including the industry-defining release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition. However, while the company’s average score climbed to 80 for the year, it fell short of Nintendo’s 92.

Metacritic and other review aggregators aren’t the be-all and end-all of a video game’s value or critical merit, but they may help you figure out what the general consensus is.

Metacritic released its 2017 list of game publisher rankings earlier this week, identifying which businesses ranked highest in Metascores. Despite Nintendo’s successful year, Bethesda Softworks came out on top, with an aggregate Metascore of 79.9 across 12 games. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Prey, according to Metacritic, contributed to the rise in Metascore.

“Thanks to a well-received new entry in the Wolfenstein franchise, a remake of Prey, a solid Evil Within sequel, and numerous Elder Scrolls releases, the publisher improved its Metascore average by more than six points compared to its 2016 slate,” Metacritic said. “Overall, 91% of the company’s 2017 goods received favorable reviews, the highest percentage of any publisher.”

You’ll note that the publisher rankings and average Metascores aren’t perfectly aligned below the link. This is due to the fact that rankings are based on points and are compared to consistency. While Bethesda didn’t have any games with a Metascore of 90 or above (qualifying as “excellent”), a large portion of their production with Metascores of at least 75 classified as “good.” 

That’s why Nintendo came in second place, with three “excellent” titles but much fewer “good” games, resulting in a lower Metascore overall. For those seeking schadenfreude, it’s worth noting that EA isn’t among Metacritic’s top 12. While it’s easy to blame this on poorly reviewed games, Metacritic reports that the business was demoted from “major publisher” to “mid-size publisher” due to a reduced release schedule.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go out and purchase Prey.

In 2017, Bethesda’s games received a score on Metacritic that was three times higher than that of the second place publisher Nintendo. Bethesda’s games received 36 Metacritic points for 2017, which was three times as many as the second place publisher Nintendo. Bethesda’s games were awarded a score of 86, which was the highest that Bethesda’s games received in 2017.. Read more about top 10 games in the world 2020 and let us know what you think.

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