Nintendo tops Game Developer's top 20 publishers

Nintendo's got quite the streak of accolades going for it of late. In June, Game Developer magazine released its list of the top 50 development studios in the world, placing Nintendo's internal crew at the top of its list, ahead of Blizzard (World of Warcraft), Ubisoft Montreal (Far Cry 2), and Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV). Nintendo was also just recently named to the top of BusinessWeek's annual "World's Best Company" chart, edging out Google and Apple.

Now, Nintendo has another feather to add to its cap, as Think Services' Game Developer magazine has judged the company's publishing arm to be the best in the business for the third consecutive year. The findings come as part of Game Developer's "Top 20 Publishers 2009" report, which draws its rankings from "industry professionals, alongside revenue data, release counts, average review scores, and anonymous feedback from development partners."

As noted by Gamasutra, which is also owned by Think Services, Nintendo's position atop the 2009 chart could be attributed to leading marks in revenue and partner feedback, in addition to a solid reputation score. A full copy of the report, which includes an exact breakdown of publishers' scores, is available through Game Developer Research's Web site for $2,995.

As for the remainder of the list, Electronic Arts again placed second behind Nintendo, with Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, and Take-Two falling into their respective third, fourth, and fifth slots.

Bethesda Softworks, MTV Games, and Warner Bros. Interactive scored their first appearances on the list. Bethesda rode Fallout 3 to seventh place, while Harmonix's Rock Band franchise pushed MTV Games into 14th and WBIE's string of Lego titles helped it secure 16th. Publishers that fell out of the rankings include the defunct Midway, Eidos, and Vivendi Games labels, as well as massively multiplayer online role-playing game company NCsoft.

Game Developer's Top 20 Publishers 2009
1. Nintendo
2. Electronic Arts
3. Activision Blizzard
4. Ubisoft
5. Take-Two
6. Sony Computer Entertainment
7. Bethesda Softworks
8. THQ
9. Square Enix
10. Microsoft
11. Konami
12. Sega
13. Capcom
14. MTV Games
15. Namco Bandai Games
16. Warner Bros. Interactive
17. Disney Interactive
18. Atari
19. Atlus
20. LucasArts