Mark Androvich 21:08 (BST)
07/03/2008

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Nintendo's Kyoto studio has been named the top developer in Game Developer magazine's first-ever study ranking the top 50 studios worldwide.

The studio was responsible for Wii Play, Wii Sports and two Brain Age games which have consistently ranked on Japanese and Western sales charts since their release.

Developers were assessed according to sales data, Metacritic review scores and an anonymous survey on Gamasutra.com in which professionals were asked to score developers on overall reputation as well as direct interaction working for or with that developer.

"Nintendo's incredibly accessible and well-designed games continue to support its hardware success, which is why they reached the Top Developer spot in this first-ever Top 50 Developer Report," said Simon Carless, publisher of Game Developer Magazine and director of game developer research.

"In addition, the mix of Western and Japanese developers in the Top 20 shows a flourishing world ecosystem for game development, as the medium continues to grow strongly into the 21st Century."

The Top 20 developers listed below, with the names of their notable games, are detailed in the March 2008 issue of Game Developer magazine:

1. Nintendo Kyoto (Brain Age, Wii Play)
2. Infinity Ward (Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare)
3. Blizzard Entertainment (World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade)
4. Electronic Arts Canada (FIFA Soccer 08, NBA Street: Homecourt)
5. Valve (Portal, Team Fortress 2)
6. Konami Japan Studio (Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer, DDR Universe)
7. Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank Future)
8. Capcom Osaka Studio (Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Monster Hunter Freedom)
9. Electronic Arts Tiburon (Madden NFL 08, NASCAR 08)
10. BioWare Edmonton (Mass Effect, Jade Empire: Special Edition)
11. Bungie Studios (Halo 3)
12. Ubisoft Montreal (Assassin's Creed, Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja)
13. 2K Boston/2K Australia (BioShock)
14. Harmonix (Rock Band)
15. Bandai Namco Tokyo (Ace Combat 6: Fires Of Liberation, Beautiful Katamari)
16. Square Enix Tokyo (Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Front Mission DS)
17. Game Freak (Pokemon Diamond/Pearl)
18. Epic Games (Unreal Tournament 3, Gears Of War PC)
19. Hudson Soft (Mario Party 8, Mario Party DS)
20. Neversoft (Guitar Hero III, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground)