Although Microsoft has been the butt end of the joke for a good portion of its last console generation, the firm appears to be changing things in a new direction with the launch of the Xbox Series consoles. With elements such as Smart Delivery honoring purchases on last-generation hardware for users making the jump to the latest units on the market.
Additionally the same can also be said for the Xbox Series S as a whole: although a fraction of what the Xbox Series X can do, it is evident that the $300 SKU is has left a positive impact on the company. Despite the momentum Nintendo held for the past few years with the Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S managed to outsell the competition came Black Friday. Another instance is the games from Xbox Game Studios.
Titles such as Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5, and Halo Infinite illustrate the path that can further incorporate the success from Microsoft’s video game division with each respectively rated 85+ on Metacritic. The group itself at Metacritic revealed that Xbox Game Studios is ranked #1 for publisher of the year.
“Our runaway winner of this year’s Publisher of the Year honors, Microsoft certainly published fewer titles in 2021 than it does in a typical year. But what games it did publish were uniformly excellent, making Microsoft the only publisher with a 100% success rate,” the website writes.
“Three different titles scored 90 or higher (also tops among all publishers): the latest Forza Horizon racer, a sequel to Psychonauts, and the Xbox Series X version of Microsoft Flight Simulator. (Their successes almost make Halo Infinite seem like a disappointment with a mere 87.)” Microsoft surprising surpassed Sony Interactive Entertainment which was ranked at #2.
Following performers include Humble Games at #3 alongside Activision Blizzard & Bethesda listed as #4 and $5 respectively. While Microsoft is in possession of Zenimax Media, Metacritic still holds Bethesda as a separate publisher for how Microsoft has orchestrated the acquisition. The same is likely to come for Activision Blizzard as the firm is in tow to be added to the Xbox family too.
What are you most surprise about Xbox Game Studios being #1 for Metacritic’s 2021 publisher of the year?
Source: Metacritic
