I've always heard my friend talk about Insomniac and how great it is. (especially if you like volleyball apparently)

I'm not sure how people cope with living in L.A though.

Biscuitcleaver

Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc

NPC

Infinity Ward did great with CoD4, even THAT was 94 on Metacritic, and their other games were rated even lower.

Even EPIC... should be higher on the list. The world-wide renown of Gears is just crazy... if this list is including scores AND overall reputation.

I can't really argue with Blizzard's rank even if I don't like WoW. It's still a very polished game.

Ugh! Screw this list!

negative bro

Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc

AngelMayLaugh

This list is stupid
EA should not be on it
Because they suck ass

Mr.SithNinja

bobtheduck

mossberg

You're kidding right? This list is stupid :/

Passa

[www.gamedevresearch.com]

Adamk24

TheNocturnalSun

I'm happy to see Insomniac made the cut, but my first question is whether employee satisfaction is taken into consideration in the rankings...

pastepunkjames

For Example.
"Game Sweat Shop"
"They embody the best and worst of the game studios. Creative and passionate people, but they bring the immaturity with it. These immature people become directors and leads, and treat english speaking employees like second class citazens."

As some more info on this the reputation survey is done by people in the industry and what they think about the company as an employer.

Also Ubisoft Montreal had nearly 20 releases this year.

blkpaladin

Snakeman

MooseMuffin

interstate78

2NinjasTapedTogether

frank0127

frank0127

frank0127

Zippidydoodaa

I'm pretty sure one of the big criteria for the rankings is the "Recent" game release. and cod4 beatdown halo 3, and that's why blizzard isn't #2, because the only recent release from blizzard is the expansion for wow.

not mention bungie did much less than IW in ways of improvement and innovation. Cod4 is a much different game than cod2 in term of multiplayer experience while halo 3 is just a rehash of halo 1.

idrisz

I believe developers should be treated as auteurs and rated as such in game concept, art design and technology.

You seem favor a list of developers as companies outputting a commercially successful product.

Astrofox

[www.supervillainstudios.com]

SchoolBusDriver

baked ham

To be honest with you, I don't even know if I would put I.F. in front of Bungie, and Bungie definitely is not a top-5 developer by any stretch of the imagination.

djkibblesnbits

I love how Blizzard came in at number 3 though, despite riding entirely on the success of WoW. They've always proved that putting that little bit of extra time and care into your games pays off a lot more than shoveling out crap games for housewives onto the best selling platforms.

NeoStarr

Menolly

"I would trust a top 20 list written by most people here over a list like this, put together by a magazine that could be influenced by industry presence and politics."

You would trust a list to be what? A market research document with an empirical backing targeted towards industry, not consumer, wants so that it's likely distributors and developers would pay $3,000 a shot for a .pdf download?

Wow. I sure wouldn't.

Anyone here (even the Kotaku staff) is an enthusiast. Therefore almost by definition we care almost exclusively about the games (and, frankly, a subset of games... look at the "love" for Mario Party and other top-selling "mass market" series). Period.

This study is interesting as a reminder that enthusiast interest is not "the industry" (nor it should be), and that's about it.

thebigsmoke

Menolly

aaa

kingmanic

"Valve should be lower.."

I didn't even think it was possible to be so wrong.

thegreatseal

Menolly

Badly put together list. They've looked at what sells and stuck it together. The researchers obviously need a raise so they actually BOTHER to do their job.

Communist_Gamer

Buttah

This is true, however, they do in-house the Shin Megami Tensei series, which includes last year's masterpiece RPG known as Persona 3. That game alone should net them a top 20. The fact that the NASCAR developer made it there instead makes me sad.

AuraHACK

MooseMuffin

MooseMuffin

ErskinPig

I would trust a top 20 list written by most people here over a list like this, put together by a magazine that could be influenced by industry presence and politics.

The enthusiast gamers are the ones that go into every nook and cranny and appreciate every detail a developer has put into a game. We know which game concepts have been refined, which games have innovated and we know to what degree these games have moved the medium forward; based on a deep knowledge of previous titles and mechanics.

I guess what I'm saying is base it on the games where the talent and style of the developer oozes through the gameplay and content. This is how we rate great film directors and musicians, and I think it's how we should rate developers.

Astrofox

Bon5ai

kingmanic

ph15h HATES ph15h

Not to mention have a HUGE library for the Shin Megami series back in Japan.

Witzbold

kingmanic

comedy

Mr.SithNinja

el_gordo

monorailcat

idrisz

GenericDude

Thanks Kaz :(

AuraHACK

issa3032

The fact that Atlus Co. isn't on that list makes me cry.

Also, Hudson? Really? Because Mario Party 8, Mario Party DS and Every Party were really that great? *confused as hell*

AuraHACK

The study weights sales, "reputation" (via anonymous survey), and metacritic rankings to create a kind of "grand unified developer ranking" which is empirical.

Feel free to argue the methodology, but at least know what you're incensed about first.

thebigsmoke

Goatfish

Old-school Sonic fanboy

Jacktherip

Jacktherip

excel_excel

thegreatseal

Ali

Saint Anima

Saint Anima

issa3032

John-irl

jBat17

excel_excel

CyN1caL