Which development company do you still trust and admire?

[Ironside]

I guess the dev i trust the most atm is probably the Creative Assembly - they make my favourite games and have slowly been rebuilding my trust levels after the catastrophe that was Empire Total Wars release. I also like CD Project Red and Valve for obvious reasons.

After what Bethesda did with Skyrim and the PS3, I can't believe there are so many people saying they "trust" them. It's disturbing. Even if the issue didn't affect you, what they did was disgusting.

I imagine most people make the decision based on the platform they play the games on - the ps3 debacle wouldnt really affect my opinion, because they still delivered (sort of) on the pc version. However from my own perspective as a primarily pc gamer i find it rather odd that so many people say they still trust rockstar - first you have to hope there games even make an appearance on pc and then you have to hope that they are actually in a playable state.

 

[TrevHead]

Who can do no wrong in my mind, I will sing their praises until my last breath-
CAVE Interactive Co
Platinum Games
Relic
Rising Star Games (PAL publisher, who in the absence of all the great Japanese Localisers in the US, have given me so many niche Japanese games)

Guys who while I'm not a fan of I do like their games and try to support for the products I like.

SEGA
Grasshopper
Ubisoft (for their more oldschool titles)
Treasure
Croteam
Konjak
Derek Yu
Carpe Fulgur and the rest of the doujin publishers on Steam.
Valve
CCP

Past respected firms that have gone down the pan.

Most of the devs who jumped ship from PC to console ie Id, Bioware, Bethesda, Blizzard
Capcom
Square Enix

 

[RedDeadFred]

Bethesda has made a lot of my all time favourite games.
Same with Bioware.
I also trust Gearbox. Sure not everything they do is of amazing quality but I only really care about the Borderlands series from them and they have shown that they are committed to improving upon it with every release. Also, they probably offer the best DLC out of any developer (ya not all of it is amazing but most of it is as good as the vanilla games).

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Atlus.

Atlus faithful, always. I may not get all of their games, but when I do, I love 'em. And they seem to do it out of sheer love. How many risky, small, awesome new games have we seen them put out? LOTS.

*Begins burning candles around his Jack Frost Shrine*

I don't have the same awe for Gearbox, although they are in my good books at the moment as well.

 

[Iron Criterion]

CD Projekt, Bethesda and Obsidian. (yes Obsidian, I love their bug filled games because they are GOOD games).

Pretty much this. Also Rockstar.

Though, even those four have done some pretty questionable things in the past.

 

[Beautiful End]

There's still some companies out there I trust and look forward to their games even if they've had their blunders. BioWare, Ubisoft, Santa Monica Studios (Does that count?), Konami...

Then there's the companies that I wish I could still trust, like Square-Enix, Capcom, Nintendo, etc. A part of me still wants to trust them...

But...although I'm not a Valve fanatic, I'll say Valve. Valve doesn't clutter the industry with their games, their games are fun for the most part, they take the time to work on their games and make sure they're good, they try to keep them alive for as long as possible (The L4D2 workshop just got released)...
But seriously, Valve. The ladders in your games! Fuck Valve ladders.

I guess Rockstar is pretty cool too. GTA4 was a disappointment for me but they're good still.

 

[CManator]

Hmmm..... There are a few that come to mind, but with mixed opinions.

Bethesda- As far as I can tell, most if not all of their games are like Elder Scrolls. That's a good thing, I'm all for consistency, but they will need more variety and more thorough testing to hold my interest in the long run.

From Software- They are probably my most respected dev right now. They put effort into quality games, and do a good job of sticking to their vison. They don't bend over backwards to pulisher pressure or consumer complaints, but they still listen and compromise when they can. I just hope they keep it up, their games aren't for everybody but they don't need to be.

SquareEnix- They used to be great, before and after the merge, but lately I've lost a lot of faith in them. Perhaps if they remember their roots they can be saved, but the decline of FF and the DQ series being handheld only has turned me away for now.

Rockstar- They make great games, but they need to remember that not every game needs GTA elements and GTA itself needs to stop taking itself seriously. I'm optimistic about GTA5 though.

Nintendo- Honestly after 25 years I still love their first party titles. I think they need to go back to "normal" consoles, get more third party support, and THEN worry about innovative peripherals. I'm glad they're still pioneers, but I worry that they will risk too much and lose it all.

Capcom- Another dev I used to love, but lately they're more focused on making money than quality games and they are suffering for it. It's like seeing the school valedictorian 10 years later only to find he's turning tricks and smoking crack. It's hard to watch.

I'm sure there are more but can't think of them right now.

 

[BarbaricGoose]

There used to be a lot, but lately, I've been a lot of cautious. I think the only company that I'd buy a game from without any research is CD Projekt now.

I'd say Visceral, but they're owned by EA, and at the risk of sounding melodramatic, its corrupting influence has been showing. I loved both of the Dead Space games to death, but co-op? Man... multiplayer was such a drag in DS2. Why go all in? Oh wait--EA. Right.

And if you had asked before DA2 and ME3, I'd have said Bioware.

Obsidian tends to make good games too, but all those bugs... geez. Alpha Protocol was basically half finished, and they managed to ruin pretty much everything that made Dungeon Siege fun, sooooo.... no. Not gonna say Obsidian. But I am keeping my eyes on Stick of Truth.

Oh, and Firaxis. I like Firaxis, but I wouldn't buy their games without prior research. Don't love them THAT much.

Bethesda's worth a mention, but... in light of the whole Skyrim PS3 debacle... no.

Square Enix has also done some good stuff lately. Never liked the Final Fantasy series, but Sleeping Dogs was amazing. I dare say I enjoyed it more than GTA. Kudos to them for picking up. And I think they published Deus Ex too, so yeah... definitely worth a mention.

 

[Vhite]

'Still' being an important word here, I'm gonna go with Blizzard. I have always seen them as perfect, but Diablo 3 really tarnished their image. I still love them, they are just not perfect any more in my eyes.

 

[CaptainKoala]

2K, Valve, Bethesda, Bioware (I might take crap for that one), and Ubisoft off the top of my head.

 

[scorptatious]

Team ICO. Sure, they've only made two games. And their third game is taking forever to come out. But the two games that they've created are among my most favorite games of all time. And even if The Last Guardian turns out to be a flop, Team ICO will remain one of, if not my most favorite game company.

Also, Obsidian, Valve, and Bungie. I'm probably forgetting a few companies, but oh well.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Trust:
Gearbox
CD-projekt
Ken Levine and his squad
Valve
Eidos

Devs I like but don't necessarily trust:
Bioware
Bethesda
Obsidian

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Nintendo, Bethesda, Obsidian, Bioware, Santa Monica Studios, Retro Studios, Sucker Punch, Ninja Theory, and Volition. Maybe Hal Labs, depending on the day. They've all done things that hurt before, and some of them are broken in their own ways, but I still trust them to make good games. That's not the whole list, but I'm significantly more inclined to check their games out than others.

 

[Nouw]

I trust and admire the devs I buy games from by default but I have a special place in my heart for Relic Entertainment for getting me into gaming.

 

[Risingblade]

Bethedsa and Atlus haven't let me down yet. Bioware maybe if they hurry up with DA3

 

[dementis]

CD Projekt Red, Platinum and Atlus. Are my top 3 right now!

 

[Mikeyfell]

Bioware was the last one I was willing to take at face value. Even after Dragon Age 2. But Mass Effect 3 Killed them to me.


I don't have a favorite anymore, Although Naughty Dog lost some of my favor with the mediocrity bonanza that was Uncharted, If Last of Us blows me away They might just jump back into the void left by Bioware 50 hour suicide note that was Mass Effect 3

 

[EvilMaggot]

CDProject and Gearbox

 

[deviltry]

From Software - will probably change when Dark Souls II is released.

Maybe Blizzard... Mists of Pandaria is top notch, but then again - what the hell is Diablo 3?..

Somewhat Bethesda - died with Oblivion, got ressurected to the plains of mediocrity with Skyrim.

I used to like Bioware - but they released Mass Effect.

I also used to like Valve - but instead of doing something good *cough half life cough* they go on about useless TF2 hats (oh and thanks for ruining a fun shooter), some crappy console wannabe pc, more crapware on top of origin, uplay, gfwl etc and wasting their resources on linux.

Gathering of Developers - not a developer company, but nearly all their published games were very good. Dead now.

iD software for being true to their roots - simple run and gun while being technically superior.