Favorite Game Companies

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Hot take: I like Ubisoft. Their open world design appeals to me a lot and they have a great track record with delivering mechanically sound games with at least passable stories (and there's a lot of narm charm in their attempts at pathos).

Yeah, I feel kinda the same. It no doubt helps not buying and playing every game on release, god knows how people can do that when it isn't their day-job. Still need to try Far Cry 5 and Odyssey yet. There is a frustration felt with the tug-of-war struggle between the corporate and creative elements of the company though, where sometimes one comes out on top of the other for any given title. But they show signs of being able to acknowledge and act on criticism and maintain certain levels of self-awareness, even if the corporate side does what the corporate side always do.

Supergiant Games. They've only made three titles, but I have a lot of love for them. Bastion, Transistor, Pyre. Smaller innovative projects with a lot of heart, creativity, and the desire to try something different with every new game's mechanics and story-lines. Oh and their music's great. Listening to Setting Sail still always makes me happy.

It's hard for me to shake my love for Double Fine either. They've had hits and misses, but I admire them for taking risks and always playing around with comedy and different genres. Also I'm biased because I love Psychonauts, and I desperately want to believe that the coming sequel can live up to the first.

Also agree with those two for suresies. Supergiant have far less under their belt, but incredibly consistent and very pleasing for the musical art charm glands.

 

[Hawki]

So, I came up with a way that I could objectively (well, objectively as possible) evaluate my standing of publishers/developers. I won't bore you with the method, but basically here's the ranking - higher the number, higher the level of investment. Note that no score can be higher than 1, and that this is an aggregate of their overall runs rather than how I'm feeling at this given moment:

Nintendo: 10
Blizzard: 8
Electronic Arts: 6
Bungie: 5
BioWare: 4
Valve: 4
Insomniac: 3
Rare: 3
Sega: 3
Square Enix: 3
Bethesda: 2
Capcom: 2
Epic Games: 2
Gearbox: 2
Id Software: 2
Konami: 2
Naughty Dog: 2
Petroglyph: 2
THQ: 2
Ubisoft: 2
Volition: 2

Going through this, there isn't too much I feel needs explaining except EA's entry. It kinda kills me inside to rank them so high, but the thing is, much as I dislike EA, they do have a number of IPs under their belt that I am/have been interested in. Apart from BioWare, none of these IPs can really be listed under a separate developer unless it wants an entry of "1." (e.g. I like Command & Conquer, but I can't call myself a Westwood fan because it's their only IP I ever got into). Similarly, I can give an entry for THQ while still keeping Volition separate.

Obviously this isn't an exact science, but it's about as objective and accurate as I can be while keeping personal fanboyism in check as best I can.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I was always partial to the (defunct) Clover and Pandemic. Clover didn't have many games but has an amazing batting average with Viewtiful Joe (1+2), Okami and God Hand. I like them for housing Mikami and Kamiya and as far as I'm concerned Okami is one of my favorite games ever. As for Pandemic, back in the PS2 days I was wowed by Mercenaries for its sheer scope and Havok physics. I think GTA is unfairly remembered as being the most versatile sandbox back in the day. For me it was Pandemic. I also liked their one Destroy All Humans! game.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

IOI, Obsidian, Looking Glass Studios(RIP)... Devolver and Paradox if we count publishers.
EDIT: Oh right, Valve... i forgot about them for some reason.

 

[Lord_Jaroh]

Bethesda (Elder Scrolls, Fallout), FROM (Armored Core, Demon/Dark Souls), Insomniac (Spiderman), Naughty Dog (Uncharted, Last of Us), Crate (Grim Dawn), and CD Project RED (Witcher) are my favorite ones these days.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

I like Nintendo's dedication to their craft. They put a lot of thought into most of their mainline IP games and I really admire their "Do more with less" approach to design.

Rare, in their prime, was also a great company, their ability to be tuned in to what people are talking about and change things like they did with Conker's Bad Fur Day was incredible and they have no problem with calling themselves out on their failures.