100 Best developers of 2008 list

[XXXREAPERXXX]

100 Best developers of 2008 list

Though I think it's a bit to early, the Next-Gen have made a list of 100 best game developers of 2008. I think it's crap because there is still lots to come in 2008
THE NEXT-GEN HOT 100 DEVELOPERS 2008 : Next Generation - Interactive Entertainment Today, Video Game and Industry News - Home of Edge Online

They have put this on there site though

"IMPORTANT NOTE: This list represents the commercial realities of the products released last year or in the next year. It is not in any way a leaderboard of native talent or ability. We understand that game development projects have a three year lifecycle and therefore an individual's placing on this list may simply be a matter of timing. It's about who's hot right now."

Summary of Top 10

10: Casey Hudson (BioWare/Mass Effect)
9. Dan Houser (Rockstar/GTA)
8. Yoshiaki Koizumi (Nintendo/Mario Galaxy)
7. Hideo Kojima (Kojima Productions/Metal Gear Solid)
6. Will Wright (Maxis/Spore)
5. Greg LoPiccolo (Harmonix/Rock Band)
4. Rob Pardo (Blizzard/WoW)
3. Jason West (Infinity Ward/Call of Duty 4)
2. Harold Ryan (Bungie/Halo)
1. Ken Levine (2K/BioShock)

Miyamoto (26)
Peter Molyneux (27)

 

[XXXREAPERXXX]

Re: 100 Best developers of 2008 list

What no comment

anyway here is the top developing companies from Gamasutra - Nintendo, Infinity Ward, Blizzard Top First-Ever 'Top 50 Developers' Countdown

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)

The methodology for the first-ever Game Developer Top 50 Developers countdown was as follows. Each game developer was first assessed by combining the top ranking games using all weekly Top 10 charts of U.S., U.K., and Japanese sales in 2007, as well as number of games released and average Metacritic review scores - specifically making eligible those developers whose games were released in calendar 2007.

In terms of the reputational part of the ranking, an anonymous survey was fielded on Gamasutra.com asking community members to score game developers on overall reputation, as well as direct interaction working for or with that developer, where possible. The resulting report is the only multi-input empirical ranking available for game development studios.

“Nintendo's incredibly accessible and well-designed games continue to support its hardware success, which is why they reached the Top Developer spot in this first-ever Top 50 Developer Report,” said Simon Carless, Publisher of Game Developer Magazine and Director of Game Developer Research. “In addition, the mix of Western and Japanese developers in the Top 20 shows a flourishing world ecosystem for game development, as the medium continues to grow strongly into the 21st Century.”

feel free to comment

 

[Dark Drakan]

Re: 100 Best developers of 2008 list

Great to see some of my favourite design teams in the list and getting praise. +rep

 

[Steve]

Re: 100 Best developers of 2008 list

Nice one, Reaper! +rep

 

[Amanda]

Re: 100 Best developers of 2008 list

20. Neversoft (Guitar Hero III, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground)

Too bad the new Tony Hawk games suck!

 

[XXXREAPERXXX]

Re: 100 Best developers of 2008 list

Nice one, Reaper! +rep

thanx I also think the list looks at sales and not innovation


the list will probably change after Fable 2 is released:0

 

[TcoWhite]

Re: 100 Best developers of 2008 list

" 12. Ubisoft Montreal (Assassin's Creed, Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja)" lol never knew Ubisoft made Naruto and Assassins Creed xD
Nice find +rep

 

[Shadow Knight]

Re: 100 Best developers of 2008 list

lol ninjas and assassins XD

 

[Dark Drakan]

Re: 100 Best developers of 2008 list

Too bad the new Tony Hawk games suck!

I would agree with that for sure.

 

[andythegill]

Re: 100 Best developers of 2008 list

71. Peter Molyneux
Founder, Lionhead (Microsoft)

Molyneux has a great gift for coming up with unique, compelling ideas that are easily related to others. A force in the "god game" category, his more recent works took simple concepts like “direct a movie” and “for every choice, a consequence” and built deep engaging games behind them. His studio put out expansion packs for The Movies and Black & White 2 this year, and its catalog titles have been selling well. Lionhead's big ticket item for 2007 is the potential release of Fable 2, however – and given that the first one was a cornerstone of Microsoft’s console strategy for the original Xbox, the sequel should likewise be well-made and strong-selling.

 

[XXXREAPERXXX]

Re: 100 Best developers of 2008 list

@andytheGill, nice add to topic
71 is a bit low, but I think it will rise more in the future. I think that it's because Pm(lionhead) takes longer to release his(their) games, rather than do a sequel a year thing which kinda sux.