Develop100.com is a website focusing on the gaming industry, but with a strict focus on developers and business, as opposed to looking at the industry from a consumer point of view. Every year, Develop 100 publishes a list of the world’s 100 most financially bankable development studios.<\/p>\n
In the past, the list was determined purely by profitability but this year the list is influenced by a number of factors, such as critical success, industry standing, and of course, sales data.<\/p>\n
The world’s 10 most bankable developers<\/p>\n
1. Blizzard<\/strong><\/p>\n Blizzard is responsible for World of Warcraft, two high selling expansion packs and 11million+ monthly subscribers. Blizzard is also currently developing is StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3.<\/p>\n 2. Nintendo <\/strong><\/p>\n Last year’s winner, Nintendo, shipped over 18million combined Wii Fit and Wii Play units in 2008. The mass appeal of the Wii and DS, and Nintendo’s dominance with its own platform make it a highly profitable software developer, and therefore a highly bankable games developer.<\/p>\n 3. RockStar North <\/strong><\/p>\n The team at Rockstar North is responsible for the high selling and critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series. <\/p>\n 4. EA Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n EA Canada is responsible for Need for Speed, Fifa, NBA Live, NHL, FaceBreaker and more. It is also working on The Sims 3, which doesn’t hurt it prospects.<\/p>\n 5. Capcom.<\/strong><\/p>\n Capcom claims ownership of 2009’s most highly rated game, Street Fighter IV. The list of massively popular Capcom games\/franchises is long, and includes Megaman, Bionic Commando, Lost Planet, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Dead Rising and many more.<\/p>\n 6. Ubisoft Montreal <\/strong><\/p>\n Proud owners of Prince of Persia, FarCry, various Tom Clancy titles and Assassins Creed, this developer has proved in the past that it can sell games, and more importantly, build franchises that will sell future games.<\/p>\n 7. Treyarch <\/strong><\/p>\n Treyarch makes the top ten for developing Call of Duty 5: World at War. Although World at War was generally well received, many gamers argue that it is overshadowed by its forerunner, CoD 4: Modern Warfare. Many would also say that World at War owes its high sales to Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Previous to World at War, Treyarch developed Quantum of Solace, Spider Man and Call of Duty 3, none of which were particularly well received.<\/p>\n 8. Infinity Ward <\/strong><\/p>\n Many gamers find it surprising that Infinity Ward comes in below Treyarch, as the developer is often perceived to be the better of the two developers that share the Call of Duty franchise. Apart from the highly rated chart topping Call of Duty 4, infinity Ward also developed Call of Duty 1 and Call of Duty 2.<\/p>\n 9. Epic Games <\/strong><\/p>\n Epic Games has earned its spot at number 9 by developing two of the most critically acclaimed and profitable franchises to date; Unreal and Gears of War. Apart from these two titles, Epic’s Unreal engine is one of the most licensed game development tools in the world, being used in smash hits such as Bioshock and Mass Effect.<\/p>\n 10. Bethesda Softworks <\/strong><\/p>\n Bethesda has two titles to thank for its top ten spot; The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3. Both excellently received sales chart toppers, these games and their future sequels should help Bethesda stay profitable for years to come. Bethesda now owns the rights to the Fallout Franchise, and Elder Scrolls V is due out in a few years.<\/p>\n