Top 20 Publishers of 2004

By James Ransom-Wiley

The top 20 game publishers were ranked in the latest issue of Game Developer.  And while the results are not all that surprising, it's good to know that this time around they considered a number of factors,
not just pure revenue (although it still seems to be the deciding factor).  So when you see Nintendo slipping into the ten spot, it's mostly because they've been relying too much on classic franchises and have not developed many significant IPs in recent years.  Now, EA also lacks original IPs, but earned high marks from outside developers,
and also posted $2 billion-plus in revenue.  Here is how the top companies stack up (as shown on IGN):

1. Electronic Arts

2. Microsoft Game Studios

3. Sony Computer Entertainment

4. THQ

5. Ubisoft

6. Eidos

7. Activision

8. Take-Two

9. Atari

10. Nintendo

11. Vivendi

12. Codemasters

13. Acclaim

14. SEGA

15. Konami

16. Square Enix

17. Midway Games

18. Koei

19. Empire Interactive

20. Namco

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