Metacritic’s Metascore summarizes selected critics’ reviews; its User Score separately reflects votes from site visitors. The two figures are not blended. Metacritic converts critic grades to a 0–100 scale, applies undisclosed weights, and—only for movies and music—normalizes the weighted average before producing the Metascore.
What the Metascore measures
Metacritic describes the Metascore as a single number representing critical consensus for games, movies, television shows, and albums. It is built from published reviews selected by Metacritic, not from every review or opinion about a title. The company’s About Metacritic page describes its approach as curating a diverse group of respected critics and combining scores assigned to their reviews.
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How critic reviews become a Metascore
- Metacritic selects reviews. Its staff look for reviews from publications on the relevant publication list. A Metascore therefore reflects the reviews included in its chart, rather than a complete census of critics.
- Review grades are put on a common scale. Metacritic converts critic scores to a 0–100 scale. If a critic has not supplied a numerical grade, Metacritic says it assigns one based on the review’s general impression. The company makes a specific exception for games: game review scores shown on the site come from publications and are not assigned by Metacritic.
- Scores are combined with unequal weights. Metacritic says it gives some publications more influence than others based on review quality and professional stature. For movies and television, it also weights individual critics. It does not publish the numeric weights or a complete calculation formula.
- Some categories receive an additional adjustment. Before generating Metascores for movies and music, Metacritic normalizes the weighted averages. It compares this process to grading on a curve, spreading scores out so they are less clustered. As a result, a movie or album Metascore may not equal the raw weighted average of the individual reviews.
These are category-specific details: Metacritic’s explanation of normalization applies to movies and music, not games or television. Its methodology is described in the Metascores FAQ and the support article How do you compute METASCORES?.
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A plain average would give every review equal influence. A weighted average gives some reviews more influence, and Metacritic says its weighting reflects publication quality and stature; for film and television, individual critics are weighted as well. The exact amount of influence assigned to any review is not public. Asked whether it could disclose each critic’s weight, Metacritic’s answer was “Absolutely not” in its support FAQ.
That means readers can understand the broad method, but cannot reproduce a Metascore from the listed reviews by applying a publicly documented formula. The movie and music normalization adds another reason the displayed score may differ from a straightforward calculation of the visible grades.
Metascore versus User Score
The Metascore and User Score describe different groups’ responses and use different inputs.
| Score | Whose views count | How it is formed | What it represents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metascore | Selected critics and publications | Weighted aggregate of published critic reviews, with movie and music scores normalized | Critical reception |
| User Score | Metacritic visitors | Average user vote shown separately on the title page | Visitor or community reception |
Metacritic explicitly says user votes and comments do not enter the Metascore calculation. Its support answer on user votes describes the Metascore as a weighted average of the published critic reviews in the page’s chart. A User Score is useful as a separate audience signal, but it does not modify the critic aggregate.
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Metacritic presents scores on a 0–100 scale, with higher values indicating better overall reviews. Colors signal broadly favorable (green), mixed or average (yellow), and unfavorable (red) reception. Movie listings also use labels including “Universal Acclaim,” “Generally Favorable,” “Mixed or Average,” and “Generally Unfavorable,” as shown on Metacritic’s movie overview.
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The precise numeric cutoffs for every label are not stated in the text of the cited methodology pages, so the color and label should be read as broad reception categories rather than as a complete published threshold formula. Metacritic’s explanation of interpreting scores is available in its Metascores FAQ.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What a Metascore can—and cannot—tell you
- It can summarize selected professional reviews. It offers a quick signal of how Metacritic’s included critics received a title.
- It is not a universal verdict. The reviews are selected for Metacritic’s chart, and its score compresses differing critical opinions into one number.
- It does not measure visitor opinion. Use the User Score for the site’s visitor-vote average, understanding that it is a separate measure.
- It cannot be independently reconstructed exactly. The weights are undisclosed, and movies and music have a further normalization step.
Metacritic’s scoring-method support article was marked updated October 19, 2023, while its overview pages showed current presentation examples accessed October 4, 2026. Its published methodology may change, so consult the linked official pages for the latest description.
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