Who owns the best game developers?

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We find out which publisher wins in the battle of the studios

MICROSOFT

Microsoft Game Studios, the umbrella organisation for all Microsoft's in-house talent, has been home to some of gaming's biggest names - Bungie, Rare, Lionhead... Bungie may have splintered off to go independent, but it's unthinkable that the dev won't work with Microsoft again in the future.

And, besides, Microsoft's been a bit busy unsettling Sony's grip on the industry with the power of Xbox 360, and the fantastic Xbox Live which, arguably, brought online multiplayer and console hardware together properly for the first time.

PUBLISHER SCORE: 85%

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THE STUDIOS

EnsembleStudios| Original studio
While Ensemble's back catalogue may consist wholly of Age of Empires instalments and expansions, it's a strong and capable RTS dev - illustrated by Microsoft tasking the studio with the Halo Wars strategy game.
Studio score: 83%

Rare | Acquired 2002
It may never have repeated the brilliance of Nintendo 64's Goldeneye, but this developer has grown from a set of siblings coding Spectrum games above a newsagents in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, into a hugely respected studio owned by the biggest computing company around.
Studio score: 81%

Lionhead Studios| Acquired 2006
Fronted by the most outspoken man in gaming (after, perhaps, Peter Moore himself), Lionhead games are never dull, consistently different but regularly over-ambitious. Peter Molyneux is always good for a soundbite, though.
Studio score: 81%

Ben_Richardson

Ben Richardson is a former Staff Writer for Official PlayStation 2 magazine and a former Content Editor of GamesRadar+. In the years since Ben left GR, he has worked as a columnist, communications officer, charity coach, and podcast host – but we still look back to his news stories from time to time, they are a window into a different era of video games.