The console wars rage on, with Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox continuing to release high-quality new titles in an attempt to dominate the console market. But throughout 2026, Nintendo has had the better of its competition in one major way.
Nintendo has had an excellent year so far, with major releases like Pokemon Pokopia and Star Fox. The company continues to use its own franchises as selling points for its consoles, as proven by the upcoming Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, which is one of the most anticipated games of 2026.
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Image via Nintendo, The Pokemon Company -
Image via Nintendo -
Image via Nintendo
As spotted by The Gamer, based on Metacritic scores for first-party titles from Nintendo, Sony, and Xbox Game Studios, Nintendo leads so far in 2026, with an average of 80.33 across its new releases. This calculation excludes ports, DLC, and remasters, but includes entirely new remakes. Most impressively, it does so with the most games published this year: nine, compared to PlayStation and Xbox’s six apiece. Nintendo manages to have six new 2026 games with an average review score of over 80, while PlayStation and Xbox have managed just three among first-party titles.
|
Publisher |
Games (Metacritic Score) |
Average Score |
Highest-rated Game |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Nintendo |
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave (89) Pokemon Pokopia (89) Rhythm Heaven Groove (82) Splatoon Raiders (82) Star Fox (81) Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (80) Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (77) Mario Tennis Fever (76) Pokemon Champions (67) |
80.33 |
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave/Pokemon Pokopia (89) |
|
PlayStation |
Saros (87) Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls (85) Marathon (81) Marvel’s Wolverine (75) MLB The Show 26 (73) God of War: Sons of Sparta (64) |
77.5 |
Saros (87) |
|
Xbox |
Forza Horizon 6 (90) Gears of War: E-Day (86) Halo: Campaign Evolved (80) Minecraft Dungeons 2 (75) Towerborne (73) Kiln (66) |
78.33 |
Forza Horizon 6 (90) |
Although its average review score isn’t as high as Nintendo’s, Xbox is the only one of the trio to achieve a 90 Metacritic score with any of its games: Forza Horizon 6. Reviews instantly painted Forza Horizon 6 as a GOTY contender, so it’s little surprise to see it drag up Xbox’s average. There are some notable outliers, with games like Marvel’s Wolverine and Halo: Campaign Evolved receiving colder receptions than perhaps their publishers anticipated.
Despite Nintendo technically leading the way, the average review scores across the three companies are pretty close overall. It’s been a solid year for all three. While Nintendo has never moved away from exclusives to keep gamers on its platform, Sony is starting to move away from PC and keep its games entirely on PlayStation. Meanwhile, Xbox seems to be making a pivot towards Xbox console exclusivity, canceling Gears of War: E-Day‘s planned PS5 port late on while continuing to embrace the PC market. In this environment, strong first-party titles are crucial to success.
It’s been an excellent year for Nintendo, and 2027 has the potential to be even better. The big-ticket item for Nintendo next year is undoubtedly the release of Pokemon Winds and Waves, which marks Generation 10 of the long-running series. Other planned first-party releases include Metroid Ravenous and Kirby and the World Beyond.
