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Neither Metacritic nor OpenCritic is the single score you should trust blindly. Metacritic is useful for a publication-curated critic consensus, while OpenCritic adds context such as recommendation share and ranking-style signals. The safest buying decision is to use either service as a starting point, match the exact platform and edition, check how many reviews are included, and then read several underlying reviews—one positive, one mixed, and one negative—to see whether the game’s strengths and problems fit you.
A score is a time-bound summary of published criticism, not a measurement of how every player will experience a game. The differences between the two services explain why their numbers can diverge without either being “wrong.”
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At a glance
| Name | Best for | Key signal | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metacritic | Quick view of a curated critic consensus | Weighted critic average on a 0–100 scale, with a separate User Score | Oct 2026 |
| OpenCritic | Seeing consensus alongside recommendation and coverage context | Critic average, percentage of reviews recommending the game, and percentile or ranking context | Oct 2026 |
What does Metacritic actually measure?
Metacritic describes its Metascore as “a single score that represents the critical consensus.” For games, it gathers scores from selected critics and publications, converts ratings to a 0–100 scale when necessary, and combines them into a weighted average.
The service says it curates a diverse group of respected critics and publications. However, its public support explanation does not disclose the exact weight assigned to each critic or outlet. That makes the Metascore useful as a broad signal, but it also means that comparing two scores to the decimal point suggests more precision than the published method supports.
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How the critic average is built
- Reviews originate with the publications that published them; Metacritic does not create those scores.
- Ratings on other scales are translated to 0–100 before aggregation.
- The converted scores are combined using a weighted average.
- The complete weighting formula is not publicly specified in the cited support explanation.
Because individual outlets use different scales and editorial cultures, a 7/10 is not automatically identical in meaning to a 70 from another publication. The conversion creates a common numerical range, not a universal definition of quality.
What the Metascore color bands mean
Metacritic’s game-score guidance says publications generally regard scores below 50 as negative and scores in the upper 70s or higher as unequivocally good. Those are descriptive conventions reported by Metacritic, not scientific pass/fail thresholds. A game at 78 can be an excellent fit for one player and a poor fit for another, depending on genre, hardware, and tolerance for its design choices.
Is the User Score part of the Metascore?
No. Metacritic keeps critic and audience reactions separate. The Metascore is the weighted average of published critic reviews and does not include user votes or comments; the User Score appears as a different measure on the service.
This separation matters when someone says a game has a “90 on Metacritic.” They may mean the critic Metascore, while a sharply different User Score reflects player reactions. Always identify which number is being quoted.
What does OpenCritic measure?
OpenCritic is best understood as a multi-signal view of game reviews rather than simply a second Metacritic number. Its methodology summary presents a critic average, the percentage of reviews recommending the game, and percentile or ranking context.
Three signals instead of one headline number
- Critic average: a summary of the numerical scores in the included reviews.
- Recommendation percentage: the share of included reviews that recommend the game.
- Percentile or ranking context: an indication of how the game compares with other reviewed games.
The recommendation percentage can reveal disagreement hidden by an average. For example, a game could have a respectable numerical mean while many reviewers decline to recommend it, or it could have a similar mean with nearly universal recommendations. Those situations are not equivalent for a buyer.
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OpenCritic’s publisher-facing portal indicates that participating publications submit review metadata, which becomes visible when the review is published. That means coverage depends on which outlets participate and which reviews have been entered. OpenCritic should therefore be read as a structured view of available coverage, not as a census of every review written about a game.
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The useful distinction is editorial rather than algorithmic: OpenCritic exposes recommendation-oriented context beside the critic average. Do not assume that every detail of its calculation is identical to Metacritic’s, or that a live page’s presentation proves a universal weighting rule.
What is the difference between Metacritic and OpenCritic?
| Question | Metacritic | OpenCritic |
|---|---|---|
| Primary presentation | A prominent Metascore representing critic consensus | A critic average shown with recommendation and ranking-style context |
| Aggregation detail | Weighted average after converting scores to 0–100; individual weights are not disclosed in the cited explanation | Multiple signals are displayed; do not infer an identical formula without current methodology documentation |
| Audience reactions | User Score is separate from the critic Metascore | The comparison here concerns critic-review signals, not a replacement for player testimony |
| What the number hides | Review spread, outlet mix, platform differences, and timing can be obscured by one average | Recommendation share and percentile add context, but review selection, platform, timing, and spread still require inspection |
| Best first question | What is the broad critic consensus? | How broad is the agreement, and how many critics recommend it? |
Neither service is inherently more accurate in every case. They summarize overlapping but not necessarily identical pools of reviews and present the result through different lenses.
Why can Metacritic and OpenCritic scores disagree?
Different scores usually reflect differences in inputs, timing, or interpretation—not proof that one service has made an obvious mistake.
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One service may include publications the other does not, or may have a different number of reviews at a given moment. A small difference in outlet mix can move an average, especially when the game has a polarized reception.
The aggregation rules differ
Metacritic documents a weighted average but does not publish the complete critic-weighting formula in the cited explanation. OpenCritic presents several signals rather than one calculation designed to mirror Metacritic. Treating the two numbers as if they were produced by the same equation invites false precision.
Scores do not translate perfectly across outlets
Review scales carry editorial meaning. One publication may reserve 9/10 for exceptional games, while another uses the upper end more routinely. A mathematical conversion to 100 cannot remove those cultural differences.
Platform and edition can change the subject
A PC, PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch release can have different performance, features, patches, and review coverage. A score for one version is not automatically evidence about another. Deluxe, cloud, early-access, and later editions can also have different content or conditions.
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The snapshot changes as reviews arrive
Launch-day figures are based only on reviews available at that time. Additional outlets can raise or lower an aggregate, and a later patch can change the practical concerns reviewers described. Record the date and review count whenever you use a score in a buying decision.
An average conceals the spread
Two games can share an average while one receives nearly identical praise from every outlet and the other divides reviewers sharply. The distance between high and low scores, the recommendation percentage, and the reasoning in outlier reviews reveal that difference better than the headline number alone.
A published example shows why the services are not interchangeable
GamesRadar+’s report on Mixtape described different aggregate outcomes on Metacritic and OpenCritic even though both reflected strong critical reception. The example demonstrates that the services can disagree while pointing to the same broad conclusion; it does not establish that one service always produces the better answer.
Is Metacritic or OpenCritic more accurate?
Accuracy depends on what you want the score to tell you. Metacritic is a convenient answer to “what is the curated critic consensus?” OpenCritic is more informative when you also want to know how many reviewers recommend the game and where its reception sits relative to other releases.
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Neither aggregate can determine whether you will enjoy a game. A high score may reflect qualities you do not value, such as cinematic presentation, while underemphasizing grind, online requirements, accessibility limitations, monetization, or performance on your hardware. The review text supplies the reasons that the average cannot.
IGN Entertainment summarizes the underlying issue well: “Art criticism, whether you’re talking about games or movies or TV or comic books, isn’t a science.” Its review-practice guidance also says an individual review represents the opinion of its chosen critic and is not universal among all gamers. An aggregate compresses many opinions; it does not turn them into an objective measurement of personal fit.
How should you compare the two scores?
Use the following sequence whenever the services point in different directions.
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- Match the platform and edition. Confirm that both pages refer to the version you plan to play. Do not compare a PC score with a console score without checking whether the relevant performance and feature differences are discussed.
- Note the review count. A number supported by a broad body of coverage deserves more confidence than an early figure based on a small sample. Treat an opening-day snapshot as provisional.
- Inspect the publication mix. Check whether the included outlets cover the genres, modes, and concerns you care about. A reader focused on competitive online play may value different criticism from someone focused on a solo story.
- Read recommendation share and score spread. On OpenCritic, recommendation percentage can show whether the numerical mean represents broad approval. On either service, look for the distance between the most positive and most negative reviews.
- Read three explanatory reviews. Start with one positive, one mixed, and one negative review that explain their conclusions. This gives you the reasons behind the numbers without requiring every review to be read.
- Search specifically for launch-state risks. Look for notes about frame-rate or loading problems, bugs, server stability, accessibility, monetization, missing features, and whether the review covered the final content.
- Apply your own fit filter. Decide whether the reported strengths and weaknesses matter to your genre preferences, tolerance for repetition, hardware, available play time, and willingness to use an online service.
What does a 90 Metacritic score actually mean?
It means that the included critic scores, after any necessary conversion and the service’s undisclosed weighting, produce a 90 on Metacritic’s 0–100 scale. It does not mean that every critic gave the game a 9/10, that every platform performs identically, or that every player will rate it 90.
Metacritic’s own broad guidance places scores in the upper 70s and above in the range publications usually understand as unequivocally good. That convention describes how tracked outlets generally use their scales; it is not a promise about value, longevity, technical condition, or personal enjoyment.
Why does the score change by platform?
Platform-specific pages can contain different review sets because outlets may cover only the version they received. More importantly, the versions themselves can differ in frame rate, resolution, controls, loading, cross-play, downloadable content, or stability. A score is therefore meaningful only when it matches the edition and hardware you intend to use.
When a platform score looks unusually high or low, read reviews from that platform first. A review of another version may still explain the design, story, and progression, but it cannot establish identical technical performance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Should you trust critic scores or user scores?
Use them for different questions. Critic aggregates tell you how selected professional reviews evaluated the game; user reactions show how a player community responded, but they can be affected by launch problems, review bombing, expectations, and self-selection.
On Metacritic in particular, the User Score is not folded into the critic Metascore. Keeping the two numbers separate prevents a common mistake: treating a critic consensus and a crowd reaction as if they were one combined judgment.
What can aggregates miss?
A single number cannot preserve every qualification in a review. Before buying, check for these details in the underlying articles:
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- Performance: frame-rate consistency, crashes, shader stutter, loading, and whether testing occurred before a launch patch.
- Online dependence: server queues, matchmaking reliability, cross-play limits, and the effect of a small player population.
- Content completeness: campaign length, endgame systems, repetition, expansion plans, and whether reviewers saw the full release.
- Monetization: paid currencies, battle passes, cosmetic stores, or progression shortcuts that alter the experience.
- Accessibility: subtitle controls, remapping, color options, difficulty tools, motion settings, and platform-specific support.
- Genre fit: whether the praise is aimed at simulation depth, exploration, competitive mastery, narrative, or another quality you actually want.
These are not reasons to reject an aggregate. They are reasons to treat it as an index to the evidence rather than as the evidence itself.
How should you use an early review score?
Use it as a provisional signal and revisit it after broader coverage appears. Early scores can be especially unstable when a publisher restricts review access, when only one platform is available to critics, or when the game depends on live servers that are not fully populated before release.
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What is the most reliable trust rule?
Use Metacritic or OpenCritic to locate a consensus, then read the underlying reviews to decide whether that consensus applies to you. Prefer a score with broad, platform-matched coverage over an impressive number based on a small early sample, and give extra attention to recommendation share, outlier reviews, and launch-state caveats.
In practical terms: Metacritic is the faster shorthand for a curated critic average; OpenCritic is the richer dashboard for agreement and recommendation context. The trustworthy conclusion comes from combining either signal with the reasons supplied by individual critics.
How we picked the comparison criteria
The comparison focuses on the signals each service publicly describes, how review pools and platform versions affect interpretation, and what information a buyer needs beyond a headline average. It does not rank one service as universally superior, because the evidence supports a conditional choice rather than an absolute winner.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does OpenCritic include every game review published online?
No. Its coverage depends on participating publications submitting review metadata and on those reviews being published and entered. A missing outlet is not necessarily a judgment about that outlet’s quality; it may simply fall outside the service’s participating pool.
What does OpenCritic’s recommendation percentage tell me?
It shows the share of included reviews marked as recommending the game, which can distinguish broad approval from a polarized average. The meaning still depends on which publications are included and how each publication defines its own recommendation.
Can a low User Score coexist with a high critic score without either being fake?
Yes. The two figures represent different groups and questions: professional reviews summarized by the critic score versus player reactions represented by the User Score. Launch conditions, expectations, and coordinated voting can make the audience number diverge sharply.
When is a score too early to use?
There is no universal review-count cutoff. Treat a score cautiously when only a small number of outlets are represented, when coverage is limited to one platform, or when major online and performance conditions have not been observed at launch.
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