Metacritic place Nintendo as fourth best publisher in 2012

Metacritic have released latest publisher rankings, based upon software releases throughout 2012, with Nintendo finding themselves in fourth place.

Their overall average Metascore, based upon the 37 unique titles released throughout the year, was 71.2. Xenoblade Chronicles was named as the company’s best overall release, and best original title, with Metacritic explaining that they use North American release dates throughout the report.

“Even without that title, though, Nintendo would remain the 4th-ranked publisher, a drop from the lofty #2 position where the company appeared in each of the previous two years,” they add.

Nintendo 3DS exclusive Kid Icarus: Uprising was also named as the Metacritic Users’ Favourite, achieving a Metascore of 8.6.