Shacknews Best Publisher of 2018 - Sony

The PlayStation 4 had an undoubtedly strong 2018 and the console continued to sell well thanks to great software. Sony courted a lot of companies for content that came to its massive PS4 install base first, but the real win was at software front lines with exclusive titles published by Sony.

You could make a strong case for Sony as top publisher by just looking around at the many end-of-the-year lists on the Internet. There aren’t very many that don’t feature God of War or Marvel’s Spider-Man. The former was a rebirth of the franchise that slowed down the game’s typically frenetic pace and allowed its titular character to grow up. The latter comes at a time where comic book heroes are all the rage and Insomniac more than did the character justice. Having a character as popular as Spider-Man as the lead for exclusive titles is pretty much a cheat code.

As strong as those two games are, there are more high-quality titles published by Sony. MLB The Show 18, the latest entry in the company’s exclusive baseball series, turned up another quality release. Whether you’re a fan of the sport or not, The Show has been dominating the scene for a while. Shadow of the Colossus, one of the exclusive experiences that will go down in history alongside the PlayStation brand, was remastered and released in 2018 as well. Though a bit more polarizing than the others, David Cage and crew also delivered Detroit: Become Human to PS4 users.

Virtual reality adopters weren’t left out either. In fact, VR gamers that don’t have PlayStation VR are missing out on Firewall: Zero Hour, which could evolve into a VR killer app. Astro Bot Rescue Mission is a PSVR exclusive title that is making the rounds and snatching up end-of-the-year awards, too. Ultimately, Sony had a such a strong 2018 that it's coasting into 2019 with no PlayStation Experience and skipping out on next year's E3. Despite that, the company has some highly anticipated games on the horizon that could put keep it in the conversation for publisher of 2019, as well. Congratulations to Sony for winning The Shacknews Award for Best Publisher of 2018.

Charles Singletary Jr

News Editor

Charles Singletary Jr keeps the updates flowing as the News Editor, breaking stories while investigating the biggest topics in gaming and technology. He's pretty active on Twitter, so feel free to reach out to him @The_CSJR. Got a hot tip? Email him at Charles.Singletary@Shacknews.com.