Nintendo, Blizzard, Ubi Montreal top game devs

Bethesda is no 14??????

bulls,,,,,,it

Nintendo is number 1....again. Why im I not suprised. Wii tha BEST!!!!!! listen!!!

probably because infinity ward didnt have a new game in 2008 lol. cod4 was 2007 lol

How did Treyarch make this list and Infinity Ward got nixed? That makes no sense to me.

yay ea canada bested valve wooooooooooo!

Harmonix should be higher then that.

I don't know about Nintendo being the "kings" anymore. I used to smile with glee every time they came out with some new and epic, but that of course was with the Nintendo 64 and such, even the Gamecube had some games that really shined, such as Pikmen. I just find them really predictable, and the E3 some what proved that.

im not suprised to see blizzard up there

SquareEnix? :S

@xXFr34k_0uTXx Yes, there is certainly a link between sales, historics and game quality, but it isn't strong enough to point out one specific developper as the leader in all of those spheres. Games made in 1996 have a slight impact on today's sell and bad games can end up being "best sellers" if the marketing is good enough. What I wanted to point out is that debating over which of these companies is the all time best game developper can't end up in a rational debate. It'll inevitably fall in a battle of tastes and opinion over things that can't be objectively analysed. Unless you focus on one specific point (like sales for example)

wow...thats crazy i thought the list would turn out alot more different then that

how is EA canada above valve? seriously they make some mediocre sports games and now they they are regarded as a good company? valve has made some of the best shooters ever created, how is this possible

The Economy is designed on the basses that products that are the most liked will make the most money. If you think it wrong to bass the quality of a studio on the profits they make because your favorite studio came in too low a place it was simply that not enough people were interested in it to buy it.

The study factored in sales figures and community reputation based on "the quality of direct interaction working for or with that developer where possible." (Gamasutra) I think this ranking represents a more investor and game designer view of studios ie. "Was this a profitable studio, and does it have a good work environment?" But if you look at the titles on the list I would say it shows that good games come from good companies.

Umm...is it just me or I'm I the only one that thinks that rating Devs on how much money their game made is the wrong way to rate them. Shouldn't they get rated on you know...how well they develop games.

@ raahsnavj Activision is a publisher not a developer

What, no activision? Do they make any games or are they the "EA with a good reputation"? Sure you have the companies they swallowed, but yet they don't produce anything of value?

@azureblade89 Remember, only 2008-2009 games were eligible for this. Mass Effect was released in '07, so the only BioWare game eligible would be Sonic Chronicles, which definitely wasn't award-worthy.

Granted, most of the devs on the board are quite amazing, I would've slotted HMX up a bit higher and Koei in a ditch, however you can't make a list like this and seriously not add Bioware to it. Honestly that's just not right.

@liam72 I'm pretty sure that the amount of sales a developer has will contribute success to the company history because of the games they create. You are right, it is about what you prefer, but I don't think it boils down to an individual preference. Its more of a worldwide preference, so to speak. Blizzard and Nintendo do well in this category. =]

Debating over the best developper is stupid. It depends on what you believe is important. Is it the company history? Is it the games it develop? Is it the sales? The superiority of most of these companies could be defended, in the end it's all about who you prefer.

Yeah, good to see Ubi mtl, Valve and HMX on there, I think they deserve it.

"MySins" made my EA Redwood Shores.. did I miss this release? =P

Kojima should be at least on 10#

Nintendo is #1 because of Shigeru Miyamoto. That guy makes games out of thin air.

not surprised that Kojima was able to make the list with only one game(MGS4) many people liked it and it took a perfect score. GO MGS4.

B.S. list. Obviously quality of the "overall" gaming experience doesn't count toward the list. Many on this list are average at best. If all you have to do is pump out average games, then fine. I would rather work for a company that 2-3 times a year is offering the best quality in gaming. 3/4's of the games listed here as examples of their companies merchandise is crap!!

i really want to know about another prince of persia

Nintendo is Weak Blizzard doesn't even release anything New And the rest of the list seems like it is in the wrong order. I love game developer magazine and I used to get it all the time but this list is weak.

@marco245 'cause MGS4 was launched last year, and sells sre estimated in recent times. NINTENDO THE KING!!! F^(K ALL HATERS!!!

Not terribly suprising. EVERYONE who bought a Wii picked up the "basic kit".

everybody hates Nintendo because they are undeniably THE BEST no doubt about it! I need all of you Nintendo lovers here!

@BLuFAlc0n - Well said. Totally agree with you. Back in the 80s developers kept moving studios and taking their code with them. Nintendo was smart and they locked the good developers in by signaturing the code to Nintendo so they cannot take it with them when they moved. The developers stayed with Nintendo

Since Nintendo can't get a good virtual console game out any longer can we just take them off the list? Its the only reason I wanted a Wii! Seriously, every game i played on this system has been the suck. Don't waste your money, buy a computer or if you really really want a console then get the xbox 360.

Thats about right except that nintendo and blizzard should be alot lower. Infinity ward should be in there somewhere too.

Why are HAL and Kojima is seperated from Nintendo and Konami? Nintendo, no doubt, is the BEST GAME DEVELOPERS in the World. Why? Coz Nintendo made the best selling game of all time (Super Mario Bros.), Flawless game. The Best Game of ALL TIME (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) Again, Absolutely Flawless The best selling franchise of gaming/ the face of gaming (Mario) Unlike Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo can make games! Kojima and Hal should be combined w/ Nintendo and Konami, Capcom should be higher as well, what's Rockstar doing @ 4th, and EA @ 5th? Capcom and Konami SHOULD be there!

Good seeing treyarch on that list. WAIT a second! Lol, Treyarch are better than infinity ward. They are very deserving of it anyway

ya kojima #19?

Kojima at #19 :(

Rubbish. Where's Crytek and Bungie?

Good to see Ubisoft there. Prince of Persia and Far Cry 2 are most deserving

Atleast there is one list where developers that make over hyped junk like MGS4 and Halo aren't in the front running.

@Ryusuke_Akihiro Since when is world of warcraft "casual"?

Figures all the casual gamers would run out and play Mario Kart wii and World of Warcraft like crazy... doesn't make Blizzard or Nintendo any better than the other devs.

Insomniac is FTW!

seriously nintendo ??? im not a fanboy of any consoles whatsoever but geez mario is so overplayed as well as all the other 300 donkey kong , mario party , metroid , castlevania games nintendo has .. for once i want to see nintendo do something else that DOESNT revolve around their mainstream

Is there even a question about Nintendo's position in the video game world? Seriously, it's the Mario's world and we are just living in it.

I'm glad to see Unisoft on there, some how they always have good games

Well if its based on retail performance this is right on, but I think there should be more to a "top" developer than just the hard numbers. Maybe its just me...