2020 was a big year for Sega, and the company has now been named the year's #1 publisher by Metacritic based on the high review scores of its games. Sega is best-known for its run of consoles in the '90s and the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, but it has a number of influential companies under its control that continue to find commercial and critical success.
One of the most important studios owned by Sega is Atlus, the developers of the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series. The Persona franchise has jumped to mainstream stardom over the past few years, thanks in no small part to the success of Persona 5 on the PS4. Sega has even shown an interest in porting older Atlus games to modern platforms, following the popularity of the Steam version of Persona 4 Golden. One of the other major companies owned by Sega is Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, which produces the Yakuza games and their spin-offs.
The Persona and Yakuza franchise had a particularly good 2020, thanks to a number of international releases for both series. The critical acclaim for these games has led to Metacritic listing Sega as the #1 publisher of 2020 in terms of review scores, beating out both Annapurna Interactive and Capcom. The most highly-rated game of 2020 on Metacritic was Persona 5 Royal, while the PC port of Persona 4 Golden sits at an 87 Metascore.
The latest entry in the Yakuza series was also released in 2020, in the form of the highly-acclaimed Yakuza: Like A Dragon. A number of the older Yakuza games received Xbox ports last year, all of which are now playable on Xbox Game Pass. These helped bolster Sega's standing considerably on Metacritic. The console ports of Two Point Hospital were also well received, as were the updated versions of Bayonetta and Vanquish. The biggest new title that Sega published in 2020 was the PS4 exclusive 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, which has a Metascore of 85.
2020, itself, wasn't a particularly kind year to Sega, as the COVID-19 pandemic seriously affected the company's entertainment business, which is one of its biggest money-making ventures. Sega actually split into two parts at the start of 2021, with Sammy handling the entertainment business and Sega Group Corporation dealing with games and hardware. It's unclear what the future holds for Sega, but the success of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie and a row of highly-acclaimed games published in 2020 means that the historic publisher isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Source: Metacritic