Who Are The Top Developers Of This Generation?

A console’s lifespan is defined by the games that gamers love to play on the system. But behind those games are the developers, who put in hundreds of hours, blood, sweat, and tears to make the game the best it can be. As we see this generation heading towards a close this fall, we have to ask ourselves: Who are the best developers this generation? Who have defined innovation, spread revolution, and made us remember that sometimes, games can be more than something we just do for fun? Read on to see the top 5.

[Root]

I would have to go with NaughtyDog...they make some fantastic quality games

I would of said Valve but the whole "Valve time" thing is getting beyond a joke now, especially with how long it takes them to release Half Life.

[zeal0us]

What no EA or Capcom, comeon bro get with it /s

[zeal0us]

As usual some of the people on N4G can't take a joke or don't understand what "/s" means :(

[aCasualGamer]

I wouldn't have given it to Rockstar. Releasing basically the same games over and over again doesn't render an award for best developer this gen. Although, the games they release are really fun and rich in content, their games don't define gaming.

Quantic Dream should win the contest hands down, for redefining the term gaming and immersion. I mean just look at Heavy Rain. You can't help but get emotional and this from a videogame. It's incredible how a man's vision could turn the industry upside down. There are alot more devs who are willing to go for the more emotional and innovative route after they've seen David Cage do it. After Quantic Dream it's a close second from Naughtydog for Uncharted 2 and how they redefined the term cinematic experience.

[3-4-5]

half life is overrated.

Maybe the story is cool, but if you take that long to make a game then your doing many things wrong and aren't as good of a dev as you think you are.

I like Steam and it exists really because of Valve....but nobody gets a free pass ever.

[Kurt Russell]

Half Life is certainly not overrated. Very few 3D games can be played a DECADE after their release and still better a great deal of the current competition.

I took Gordon through his 2nd campaign again earlier this year... It's amazing.

[Walker]

1. Naughty Dog
2. RockStar
3. Valve
4. Bethesda
5. Irrational Games

[ExCest]

Bethesda is pretty crap if you realize that their games are always filled with bugs. They make fun games but they're really bad at making them and releasing them mostly polished.

[Oh_Yeah]

I wonder why? Could it be that they develop the biggest most content packed least scripted games on machines with a measly amount of ram and low end gpus? Once you look at it realistically they surely belong in the top 5. I think we're all in for a treat next gen when they release Fallout 4...will see the polish.

[Campy da Camper]

Sucker punch. Infamous is awesome.

[omi25p]

Naughty Dog over Rockstar? Nope, Uncharted 1 was great but not perfect, Uncharted 2 was pretty much perfect, Uncharted 3 was a rushed and terribly written mess of a game.

Rockstar have created the best games this generation.

Grand Theft Auto IV: Best Free Roamer
Red Dead Redemption: 2# Best Free Roamer
Max Payne 3: Best Third Person Shooter with best physics
L.A Noire: Incredible facial animations
Midnight Club Los Angeles: Best Car Customization
The Lost & The Damned, The Ballad Of Gay Tony, The UnDead Nightmare: Best Downloadable Content.

ROCKSTAR: Best Developer Last Generation and This Generation.

[caseh]

I'm gonna throw a curve ball and go with Sega. I'll still say ND, Bethesda etc as well but primarily Sega

Resonance of Fate, Yakuza, Binary Domain, Valkyria Chronicles. Silly amount of time spent on each game, more so than the likes of Fallout in some cases surprisingly.

[zeal0us]

I have to say Binary Domain was a good game. I put tons of hours into the SP campaign. The v/o, story, weapon system and characters were great.

The only thing I didn't like about Binary Domain have to been the enemies. The robots in Binary Domain just wasn't something I took serious. The robot in Vanquish seem far more deadlier imho.

[Inception]

Don't forget, Sega also publish Bayonetta, Vanquish, and Condemned (loved those games). So, in some way i agreed with you about Sega. But too bad Sega ruin their own good record with Golden Axe: Beast Raider, Alien: CM, and a couples of crappy Iron Man games. Also, there's no Shenmue 3 / HD collection, no new Panzer Dragoon, and lack of lozalization for Yakuza HD - Yakuza 5 - Valkyria Chronicle 3 made me dissapointed with how Sega handle their own big franchise :(
Hopefully, Sega will fix their own mistake in next gen...

[fsfsxii]

Sega games that gets a release outside japan get horrible sales, at least, most of them.

OT: Best dev has to be Kojima Production, they did MGS4 and MGSPW, both amazing games, the level of story and polish is beyond anything i've seen.

[majiebeast]

Rockstar games all have the same baseline gameplay drive around,find the npc,mission briefing with cutscene,drive to the mission,kill the target/do the objective and finish mission.

GTAIV is as overrated as Skyrim and so is RDR all 3 of these games get so repetitive 3/4th into the game. Hardly games deserving of number 1 developer spot.

[Harmonizer]

Would have been better to make a list of best 5 studios instead of this. Mixing publishers and developers is confusing or is it just me?

Im gonna make a list of the 5 studios i really liked this gen:

1. DICE (Mirrors Edge, Bad Company, Battlefield)
2. Relic Entertainment (Dawn of War, Space Marine,Company of heroes)
3. CD Projekt RED (Witcher)
4. Rockstar North (GTA 4, helped on RDR and MP 3)
5. Valve (Half Life, Portal, L4D)

[surgency]

Fellow PC gamer :)

I agree with CD Projekt

This would be a hard list to build but I know that CD Projekt and Naughty Dog would be on it.

[Ilovetheps5]

One of my favorite devs this generation is relatively new and only made one game this generation. I think Yager is a great developer. Spec Ops was just a great game and really changed the way I look at shooters. The storyline was great and had a ton of emotion in it. Some of the parts of the story made me actually feel bad. Few shooters have been able to do the for me lately.

My other favorite developers would be Media Molecule, Naughty Dog, and Sucker Punch. All three of them made amazing IP's that were tons of fun. There were plenty of great games this generation, and those three developers made quite a few of them.

[Corpser]

Bethesda
Valve

[Swiggins]

1. Naughty Dog
2. Bungie
3. Valve
4. Rockstar
5. Bethesda

[Bumpmapping]

Naughty dog
Kojima Productions
Sony Santa Monica
Media Molecule
Rocksteady

[Imalwaysright]

From Software -Souls games
Rocksteady- Batman
Ubisoft Montreal - FC3
Rockstar San Diego- RDR
CD projekt - Witcher

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

Personal Favourites:
Platinum Games
XSeed
Grasshopper Manufacture
Mistwalker
NISA
From Software

[helghast102]

Are people saying Bethesda just having a jolly? Because there's no way they can be one of the best devs of this gen.

[Dj7FairyTail]

Nintendo EAD
Atlus
Game Freak
Platinum Games
Sora LTD

[Zefros]

Me personally game length dosen't matter the most, what naughty dog, konami and rockstar gave me are enough.

[aliengmr]

I have very little to no experience with the console devs, so my personal list is:

1. CDPR
2. Valve
3. Relic
4. Creative Assembly
5. Bethesda

In response to the list in the article, agree with all except BioWare. They should be replaced with CDPR. They may not have a massive library or long rep with consoles but their ethos regarding DLC, DRM, and treating their customers should be the model for the industry.

[R_aVe_N]

My list as follows

1. ThatGameCompany (Flower and Journey)
2. Naughty Dog (Uncharted and The Last of Us)
3. Media Molecule (LBP and Tearaway)
4. Irrational Games (Bioshock)
5. CD Projekt RED (Witcher)

[RBlue_Desire]

1.Naughty Dog
2.CD Projekt Red
3.From Software
4.Valve
5.Irrational Games

[Tonester925]

1. Angry Birds
2. Angry Birds 2
3. Angry Birds Star Wars
4. Angry Birds in Space
5. Angry Birds in Oakland

[Mikefizzled]

Valve for single handily dragging PC gaming into prominence again and for fantastic games like Left for Dead, Portal 2 and Team Fortress 2.

[mochachino]

Since people have conflated developer with publisher I'll throw in:

Square (loved Dues, Tomb Raider, and Sleeping Dogs)
Bungie (loved Halo 3 and Reach)
EA/bioware/ea sports devs (for BF, Mass Effect, and NHL/Fifa)
2k
Naughty Dog
Gurilla
Santa Monica Studios
Rocksteady (Both batmans are way under appreciated in all aspects, graphics, story, gameplay - plus no other sequel improved as substantially than from Arkham Asylum to Arkham city, while maintaining all of the original charm. They made an open world game without sacrificing anything present in corridor 3rd persons and executed flawlessly. If anything, they must be the most efficient devs out there to do as fast as they did)

MGS 4 is probably my fav game of the gen but I wouldn't put Konami on my list given the paucity of titles.

[aliengmr]

Conflated? You mean confused? And out of curiosity, who was confused between the 2?

[mochachino]

No I mean conflate, confused assumes they didn't know the difference, I can't know that.

As to who, just read peoples favs.

[urwifeminder]

Eidos for me battlestations.

[DevilishSix]

Mine would have to be and in no order:

Bethesda - Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim
Naughty Dog - Uncharted series
EPIC - Gears of War series
Irrational Games - Bioshock 1 and Infinite
Bioware - Mass Effect series
Rocksteady - Batman series

Those have really definied this generation and I know it's just my opinion.

Lastly, I may not have support in this area but I have also enjoyed Crytek's Crysis series and if it wasn't for them we wouldn't have the Far Cry franchise as well.

[arronax-1]

Oh great more fanbait...