Microsoft, or Xbox Game Studios, has become Metacritic gaming publisher of the year for 2021 after every single one of their games managed to garner a “good” or “great” review rating. By doing this, they also managed to break a record by being the first publisher ever to average over 85 Metascore for the year.
How well did Microsoft do in 2021?
Microsoft released five titles throughout 2021, some of which were released on multiple platforms to give them ten scores altogether. Admittedly this is a lower number of titles than they would usually publish, but they still managed to perform consistently well enough to climb from sixth position in 2020 to be a convincing winner in 2021. Their average score for the year was 87.4, making them the first publisher to average above 85 in a single calendar year:
- Microsoft Flight Simulator (July 27, 2021)
- Xbox Series X – 90
- Psychonauts 2 (August 25, 2021)
- PC – 89
- PlayStation 4 – 87
- Xbox One – 91
- Xbox Series X – 87
- Age of Empires IV (October 28, 2021)
- PC – 81
- Forza Horizon 5 (November 5, 2021)
- PC – 91
- Xbox One – No score
- Xbox Series X – 92
- Halo Infinite (December 8, 2021)
- PC – 80
- Xbox One – No score
- Xbox Series X – 87
While there are two other scored games where Xbox Game Studios are credited with contributions, neither The Gunk nor Space Jam: A New Legacy – The Game were published by Microsoft, therefore they don’t count in Metacritic’s analysis. Whether Microsoft can repeat the feat for 2022 remains to be seen, but they’ll definitely have Starfield contributing towards their score.
In other news, Final Fantasy’s 35th anniversary website has been launched and is likely to feature news for their upcoming titles like Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Remake. The site already features tomorrow’s new release Chocobo GP and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin that’s due to arrive later this month. Elsewhere, Gotham Knights has been confirmed to be arriving in October, just in time for the holiday season.
