Nintendo's Kyoto studio, Infinity Ward, and Blizzard earned the top three spots in Think Services' Game Developer magazine and Game Developer Research list of the top fifty game studios worldwide.
The report fashioned the top fifty through a combination of Metacritic scores, sales chart info for the U.S., U.K., and Japan, as well as data taken from a detailed survey conducted by Gamasutra that gathered more subjective information, such as a company's reputation in the development community.
Nintendo Kyoto earned the top slot for its work on games like *Brain Age, Wii Sports, and Wii Play.One could argue that Wii Play's sales were more a function of the pack-in Wii Remote controller than of the actual game, but that's just the bitterness talking. *
Infinity Ward came in second not only for the stellar sales and excellent critical reception enjoyed by Call of Duty 4, but also because it earned high marks for being a great place to work. The company's working conditions, professionalism, and attention to quality all received high praise.
A developer's reputation was another governing factor in earning it a spot in the Top 50, and Blizzard's killer rep helped snare it the third position, as did the phenomenal sales of World of Warcraft expansion The Burning Crusade.
Here are the top 20 developers according to the list, along with the games that helped get them there:
1. Nintendo Kyoto (Brain Age, Wii Play)
2. Infinity Ward (Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare)
3. Blizzard Entertainment (World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade)
4. Electronic Arts Canada (FIFA Soccer 08, NBA Street: Homecourt)
5. Valve (Portal, Team Fortress 2)
6. Konami Japan Studio (Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer, Dance Dance Revolution Universe)
7. Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank Future)
8. Capcom Osaka Studio (Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Monster Hunter Freedom)
9. Electronic Arts Tiburon (Madden NFL 08, NASCAR 08)
10. BioWare Edmonton (Mass Effect, Jade Empire: Special Edition)
11. Bungie Studios (Halo 3)
12. Ubisoft Montreal (Assassin's Creed, Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja)
13. 2K Boston [& Australia] (BioShock)
14. Harmonix (Rock Band)
15. Bandai Namco Tokyo (Ace Combat 6: Fires Of Liberation, Beautiful Katamari)
16. Square Enix Tokyo (Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Front Mission DS)
17. Game Freak (Pokemon Diamond/Pearl)
18. Epic Games (Unreal Tournament 3, Gears Of War PC)
19. Hudson Soft (Mario Party 8, Mario Party DS)
20. Neversoft (Guitar Hero III, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground)
You can find more detailed breakdown of the entire Top 50 on Game Developer's web site.
