Who is your favourite developer in business right now?

[JasonKaotic]

For me it's Mistwalker. Two of the three key members of the company are Hironobu Uematsu, the Director/Producer of Final Fantasy while it was still good, and Nobuo Uematsu, the guy who did the soundtracks for the good Final Fantasy games. Which had awesome, awesome soundtracks. Not that the newer Final Fantasy games have bad soundtracks. They're good too.
That is all you need to know. Plus that they made Lost Odyssey, by far my favourite game of this generation.
[sub]Although they also made Blue Dragon...[/sub]

They're probably followed by Bethesda. Love them too.

 

[Whateveralot]

Hmm...a couple of choices here.

ThatGameCompany is a very big contender. Small bunch of people that make very artsy games. Cloud being their first, free release. Fl0w, Flower, Journey all following up.

Naughty Dog is an amazing crew as well. They come across as a group of very skilled people that have no idea why the things they do are such a success because they do the stuff THEY like. They're like "we made this and it seemed cool, now people seem to enjoy it very much. I never expected that". Crash Bandicoot, Jak, Uncharted. All amazing games.

The absolute winner, in my eyes is Quantic Dream. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0KTUysrwgQ&feature=player_detailpage#t=6s [K.A.R.A] being the main example of what they're trying to achieve: ultimate realism in facial expression, emotion. Very stylish, very classy. Heavy Rain was a brilliant game and I've never felt this engaged into any game, ever. Even though it felt clunky at times, it was a great and most memorable experience. However, they might not have made as many good games as other producers have, but the games that were produced show great promise and quality and actually carry weight in the industry. They are an example for the gaming industry as a whole.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Valve. Valve is awesome. Only corporation I can think of that actually has a filthy rich CEO and that doesn't make me want to spew my guts out in sheer disdain. Gabe Newell is one of the few rich guys to which I'd say he's mostly earned every penny of it, for focusing on quality over quantity and for offering a stellar means to improve on quantity while maintaining quality (Steam, of course).

A good chunk of my faves are going out to Gearbox, at the moment. I typically have a very hard time digesting politically incorrect humour (Family Guy gives me ulcers), but all this rednecky Firefly-ish goodness is just too freaking awesome to put down.

Bethesda also gets some of my faves because I'm an Elder Scrolls and Fallout sucker. Yeah.

Then there's Cyan Worlds. I'd give them one of my kidneys, but they've refocused on iOS games involving pirate ships flinging cannonballs at distant islands, with a cash-grab in-name-only reference to Myst thrown in.

WHERE'S MY AWESOME ADVENTURE GAMES AT, CYAN! I WANTS MOAR!

 

[FootloosePhoenix]

I would automatically say Sucker Punch Productions, but my unbridled admiration (or fangirl worship, depending on the day) for them has been shaken somewhat after what they've done/have been doing with the inFamous series and how Sly Cooper is currently being shit upon by Sanzaru Games. I realize the latter isn't really their fault since Sony owns Sly (I think), but still, it's deeply disappointing. Especially considering how it appears at this point that they're choosing to do a prequel or, even worse, another sequel to inFamous, their shove-off of Sly Cooper after all these years claiming that they do want to revisit the series hits me right where it hurts. Nevertheless, Sucker Punch is still a great developer and I'm looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us next, even if it's a misguided attempt to keep inFamous alive.

Bethesda is also on my favourite dev list even though Skyrim ultimately disappointed me a lot and I must bow down to Irrational Games for making BioShock. I love Insomniac for the first three Spyro the Dragon games and Ratchet and Clank, though truthfully I just haven't been interested in anything they've churned out since A Crack in Time, including the newer R&C titles. Full Frontal Assault piqued my interest for awhile, but then they said something about tower defense missions...