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Metacritic Review Scores Examined

By Tyler Barber | Sep 1, 2009 Rob Savillo compares sales data with Metacritic scores.

Bitmob posted an insightful piece by Rob Savillo today that examines Metacritic scores' relationship to videogame sales numbers. Savillo looked at console games released in May 2009 and found that there is no direct correlation between high Metacritic scores and successful sales numbers. What the study did find was that most games sell less than 60,000 copies over a ten-week period, and that movie licenses, sequels, sports franchises and exclusives are the highest correlating factor in strong sales numbers. Perhaps the most discouraging bit of information from the study is the finding that a high Metacritic score does not guarantee high volume sales. The study reports that a majority of the lowest-selling games in May 2009 were given a Metacritic score of 60 or above.

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Tyler says: Before I chime in, I urge you to read Rob's full article. But, as great as the article it is, the piece tells us mostly what we already knew: familiar things sell, new, unique ideas generally don't do as well.

Take Boom Blox: Bash Party, it was one of the highest-rated games on Metacritic in May, but sold half the copies that Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian did (and Night at the Museum scored a 52 on Metacritic, as opposed to Boom Blox's score of 86).

The focus of the study was to see if developers and publishers are justified to gauge bonuses or employee pay on aggregate review scores. However, I doubt most will heed this information. Like it or not, publishers and developers want to see those big numbers on Metacritic, even if they have no bearing on their titles' success at retail.

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