Katarzyna Petru
Xbox and Microsoft jointly dominated the ranking of the most media-covered gaming companies in 2025, although in the individual category, Nintendo proved to be unrivalled. This is according to the annual report “Year in Numbers”, published by GamesIndustry.biz.
In the previous two years, Xbox was the undisputed leader of the “most covered companies” ranking. In 2023, the brand appeared in 308,834 articles, and in 2024, in 238,365. However, in 2025, the situation changed – Nintendo jumped to first place, recording 236,351 publications, while Xbox ended the year with a total of 218,225 texts.
Microsoft + Xbox unrivalled as an ecosystem
Although Nintendo won in the individual classification, the combined data for Xbox and Microsoft presents a completely different picture. In total, both brands appeared in as many as 346,897 articles, which significantly exceeds the result of PlayStation and Sony combined – 271,108 publications. This only confirms how strongly intertwined the topics related to Xbox consoles, Game Pass, Activision Blizzard, and Microsoft’s broad strategy in the gaming and AI sectors are today.
Top 15 Most Described Gaming Companies in 2025
Nintendo – 236,351
Xbox – 218,225
PlayStation – 184,976
Microsoft – 128,672
Sony – 86,132
Nvidia – 85,400
EA – 57,192
Ubisoft – 30,930
Epic Games – 29,804
Activision Blizzard – 23,441
Rockstar Games – 20,716
SEGA – 17,748
Twitch – 16,677
Valve – 16,598
Square Enix – 14,230
Fewer articles, but greater leaps for selected brands
The report also shows a clear change in trends compared to 2024. The majority of major players have recorded decreases in publication numbers, including Xbox, Microsoft, PlayStation, Sony, Epic Games, Ubisoft, Valve, and Square Enix. The biggest loser turned out to be Activision Blizzard, which experienced a 34.59% year-on-year decline.
On the other end of the spectrum was Nintendo, which gained 30.10% more publications, mainly due to announcements and leaks related to Nintendo Switch 2. Increases were also noted by Nvidia, SEGA, Rockstar Games, and EA – the latter two companies increased their media presence by over 50% year-on-year.
How were the articles counted?
GamesIndustry.biz notes that the data comes from the tool “ICO via Footprints”, and the methodology distinguishes publications related to specific brands. For example, an article about Microsoft Rewards may fall into the category of “Microsoft,” even if it does not directly mention Xbox, and a text strictly about Xbox consoles does not have to include the name Microsoft.
In practice – as the editorial team points out – the boundaries between these brands are increasingly blurring, which only strengthens the overall media weight of the entire Xbox ecosystem.
