The data is in - Bethesda was on average the major publisher with the best games last year.
That's according to data from review aggregate site Metacritic, which has published its publisher rankings for 2017.
The firm divided publishers on the platform into two categories - those that released more than twelve games during the calendar year, dubbed 'major publishers' and the rest being 'mid-size'. The rankings were also decided by the average score of games released in 2017, the percentage of products with reviews higher than 75, as well as the number of products with reviews below 49.
Note: this isn't based entirely on average score, with the aggregate firm using the above to generate another score. This means that some publishers have higher average scores than those above them.
Bethesda came out on top with an average score of 79.9. The highest scoring game in its stable was Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, with 88, while Doom VFR held up the rear with 69.
Some company called Nintendo came in second place with 78 per cent, while Sega took third place, scoring 75.5. The recently-released Bayonetta PC port was that publisher's highest scoring game, rocking in at a cool 90.
Activision Blizzard rose three places year-on-year to fourth, with Destiny 2 on Xbox One being its highest-scoring game with 87. The lowest ranking was Destiny 2's Curse of Osiris DLC, which scored 57.
Meanwhile in the mid-size publishers, Binding of Isaac and Cave Story+ company Nicalis Inc came out on top with 79.8, with Pillars of Eternity and Cities Skylines coming in second place.
Indie firm Devolver Digital walked away in third place with 76.5.
Here are the major publisher ranks:
1. Bethesda
2. Nintendo
3. Sega
4. Activision Blizzard
5. Capcom
6. Ubisoft
7. Sony
8. Square Enix
9. Bandai Namco
10. Koei Tecmo
11. NIS America
12. Telltale Games
And here's the mid-sized publisher Top Ten:
1. Nicalis
2. Paradox Interactive
3. Devolver Digital
4. Warner Bros
5. EA
6. Daedelic Entertainment
7. Plug In Digital
8. Hamster
9. Take-Two Interactive
10. Adult Swim
