Who are the TOP 3 Developers in the World - Daily Arcade 07.21.16

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Who do you believe are the top three developers in the world right now? Not just from a subjective viewpoint, but also an objective one?

Well, if you ask Marcin Iwinski, CEO of CD Projekt RED, he might be able to tell ya. About a month ago, during an interview at infoShare 2016, he named the world’s top three game developers… and whatdya know, he didn’t bellow CDPR at the top of his lungs; the developers were Blizzard, Bethesda, and Rockstar Games. Yes, he might have been extremely critical of his company, but his reasons for the top three were actually quite justified. Anyway, here was his response:

“Yeah, I actually think I said the best. The goal for the last five years was to be among the best three roleplaying game developers and I think we got there. The Witcher 3 is the proof. For the top three, this is our perception: I’d definitely put there Blizzard, I’d definitely put there Rockstar, and I think I would put them at number one, and probably Bethesda as well. We want to get there, so one will have to go.”

Oh, dem’s fighting words right thar.

But is his statement true? Well, thanks to a little analysis and speculation, I would have to say yes, these three developer giants are certainly top in the world, but that’s only if we’re excluding Sony Computer Entertainment, Nintendo, and Microsoft as developers (especially from a financial point-of-view, but do note that the link provide is from the end of 2014). Seriously, I’m sure Nintendo has been lately duking it out for the top spot thanks to the advent of Pokemon GO! and several other clever business strategies. Then again, Nintendo didn’t exactly develop Pokemon GO!, only published it.

Anyyyyywaaaaaay… the reasons as to why these three developers might have earned the crown? Well, let’s check it out:

Blizzard Entertainment

It’s probably important to first note that as of the 2015 fiscal year ending March 31, Blizzard raked in $1.1 billion USD in revenue. Yes, that’s a gargantuan amount of revenue right there! How does Blizzard continuously rake in the riches?

Two words: quality games. Not to mention it often boasts a very clever and accurate business model for its titles. It seems that every game released by Blizzard thus has been eaten up by gamers worldwide. In fact, I can’t think of a game that hasn’t been popular with the crowd!

To drive the point home, every game and DLC scored at least a 73 on Metacritic, with the overall average being 87. That’s pretty damn good for Blizzard’s career.

Not to mention, this year, one Blizzard game managed to win the hearts of gamers everywhere. Which game? Overwatch, duh! Just recently,Overwatch was home to over 7 million players within just a week. A WEEK. That makes the game one of the most successful global game launches of all time. Holy shit, that’s a lot of players. So now, you see exactly why Blizzard would be a prime candidate of “the top three devs.” Not one game of theirshasn’t been popular.

Rockstar Games

Net revenue of $1.083 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015. But it was down $2.351 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014.

I mean, look at freakin’ Grand Theft Auto V! As of May 18, 2016, the game shipped over 65 million copies across all platforms and it’s still chugging along. It doesn’t need to release a lot of games, and it will continue raking in the moolah.

Sure, it’s Metacritic score chart isn’t as flashy as Blizzard’s, but it’s still pretty high. 75 games have positive ratings, with 21 games wielding mixed, and finally, two being completely negative. Overall, the average Metascore for Rockstar Games’ profile is 81, with the highest rating going to Grand Theft Auto IV (98). Yet, Grand Theft Auto V, being only one point lower, obliterated Grand Theft Auto IV’s sales.

Hell, Grand Theft Auto V’s online mode, Grand Theft Auto Online, generated well over $500 million, when it was reported back in April of 2016.

The studio is pretty much set money-wise until the release of Grand Theft Auto VI… whenever that will be!

Bethesda

I don’t know how much revenue Bethesda pulled from its games for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015, but Zenimax Media managed to rake in $86.565611 billion for that year. But for now, we’re going to focus on two particular hits of this year and late last year: DOOM and Fallout 4. On May 31, 2016, 500,000 copies were sold just on the PC. It was also considered the second best-selling retail game in its week of release in the UK, right behind Uncharted 4. By late June of 2016, it took the number one spot on the UK charts, ahead ofUncharted 4 and Overwatch.

Not too bad!

Of course, its sales didn’t exactly hold a candle to one of the most highly anticipated games of 2015: Fallout 4, which manage to turn people away from porn the day of its release. Within the first 12 hours alone, the game shipped over 12 million copies worldwide. And as of February of 2016? Well, according to SteamSpy, the Steam PC sales alone crossed the 3 million mark. Just on Steam. STEAM.

Never mind the other PC platforms, physical copies, etc.

Really amazing, isn’t it? Still, I’m excited as to how the newest Quake will play out in terms of sales.

So you see why these three developers/publishers are top-tier? I mean, again, it’s partially subjective and new competitors are fighting for the tiers; again, just look at Pokemon GO! and Nintendo. I still can’t believe it has managed to rake in an estimated $1.6 million per day in revenue since its launch. Anyway, this is just from Iwinski’s viewpoint, but I believe that from a financial point of few, if we’re not counting the big three companies: Sony Computer Entertainment, Microsoft, and Nintendo as developers, that Blizzard, Bethesda, and Rockstar would certainly indeed be the top especially thanks to its successes over the past year. But the real question is: could CDPR catch up to the developing behemoths? It will honestly depend on how Cyberpunk 2077 plays out, but for now, I think the giants will stay where they are.

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