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IGDB VS Metacritic

Compare IGDB VS Metacritic and see what are their differences

IGDB logo IGDB

An open video game database

Metacritic logo Metacritic

Metacritic aggregates music, game, tv, and movie reviews from the leading critics. Only Metacritic.com uses METASCORES, which let you know at a glance how each item was reviewed.
  • IGDB Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-17
  • Metacritic Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-23

IGDB features and specs

  • Comprehensive Database
    IGDB offers a vast and detailed database of video games, including extensive metadata like genres, release dates, platforms, and developers.
  • Community Driven
    The platform allows contributions from its users, leading to the inclusion of lesser-known games and corrections of potential inaccuracies.
  • API Access
    IGDB provides an API that developers can use to integrate the database into their applications, making it a versatile tool for various use cases.
  • User Reviews and Ratings
    Users can leave reviews and ratings for games, offering a community-based insight into a game's quality and reception.
  • Updated Regularly
    The database is consistently updated with new releases and information, ensuring that users have access to the latest data.

Possible disadvantages of IGDB

  • Data Accuracy
    As a largely community-driven platform, there can be inconsistencies or errors in the data, which may require verification.
  • API Limitations
    While the API is useful, it has rate limits and some features might be restricted to paid tiers, potentially limiting accessibility for some users.
  • Interface Complexity
    New users might find the interface a bit complex to navigate due to the extensive data fields and options available, which can be overwhelming.
  • Limited Historical Data
    Older and especially obscure games may have less comprehensive information available compared to more recent and popular titles.
  • Dependence on User Contributions
    The quality and comprehensiveness of some game entries can heavily depend on the active contributions from the community, leading to variability.

Metacritic features and specs

  • Aggregated Scores
    Metacritic aggregates scores from multiple critics and users, providing an overall perspective on the quality of a game, movie, or album.
  • Critic Reviews
    It offers a consolidated view of professional critic reviews, making it easy to see the general sentiment among industry experts.
  • User Reviews
    Users can leave their own reviews and scores, adding a diverse range of opinions to the aggregated score.
  • Easy Comparison
    The website allows for direct comparison between critic scores and user scores, providing a well-rounded view of the received media.
  • Comprehensive Database
    Metacritic maintains a large database that includes movies, games, TV shows, and music albums, making it a versatile tool for consumers.

Possible disadvantages of Metacritic

  • Review Bombing
    User scores can be manipulated through coordinated mass reviews, commonly known as 'review bombing,' which can skew the overall score.
  • Not Always Representative
    The aggregated score might not reflect nuanced opinions and could oversimplify the critical reception.
  • Limited Context
    Metacritic scores sometimes lack context or detailed reasons behind the ratings, leading to possible misinterpretation.
  • Bias Towards Popular Media
    More popular games, movies, and albums are likely to get a larger number of reviews, potentially overshadowing niche or indie titles.
  • Critic Selection
    The choice of critics included in the aggregation can sometimes be controversial, as it might not represent a completely balanced view.

IGDB videos

PlayToo development - Day 28 - IGDB Api

Metacritic videos

Metacritic Reviews - Celeste

More videos:

  • Review - Metacritic Reviews - Hollow Knight
  • Review - I HATE METACRITIC

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to IGDB and Metacritic)
Games
100 100%
0% 0
Movie Reviews
44 44%
56% 56
Movies
0 0%
100% 100
Game Reviews
66 66%
34% 34

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare IGDB and Metacritic

IGDB Reviews

We have no reviews of IGDB yet.
Be the first one to post

Metacritic Reviews

Best Sites For Rating Movies: 6 Top Movie Review Websites
Metacritic is distinguished by its methodology of aggregating reviews. Unlike other sites that simply calculate an average, Metacritic assigns a weight to each critic’s review based on their prominence and track record, offering a more nuanced overall score.
IMDb Alternatives
Metacritic is a website which can be used for reviewing a movie, TV show, or video game. The reviews are based on a Metacritic scorecard in which the range of scores lies between 1 and 100. You can find movies from different streaming web suites No film files are available on this platform. No apps and pop−ups can be seen while streaming a movie.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Metacritic seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 18 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

IGDB mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of IGDB yet. Tracking of IGDB recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Metacritic mentions (18)

  • What Happened to this Once Great Site?
    It's Thursday night. I'm considering going to see 'Five Nights at Freddies' but not if it has bad reviews. I go to metacritic.com and it's not in the first row. Not in any of the rows on this horrendous website design. What the actual fuck? Source: over 1 year ago
  • Any games out there
    Go to metacritic.com and search for highest rated for your platform. With a request that broad that's your best option. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • What console should I get?
    Go to metacritic.com look at the PS5 and Xbox lists of "best games" do a count of the top 20 for each system and see what system has more games you want to play. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Is there a place that tracks/reports on all new MP game releases?
    Metacritic may be what you're looking for. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Reviews are currently plummeting.
    I think we should always question corporations and whether something is a fluff piece, but I find metacritic.com's critical review scores to be extremely realistic and helpful. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing IGDB and Metacritic, you can also consider the following products

Rawg - Video game discovery powered by you!

IMDb - Internet Movie Database

Simkl - Simkl is a TV, anime, and movie tracker that keeps a history of all the shows and movies you watch in one, central location. It’s a mobile app, a website, Google Chrome extension to keep track of everything you watch and integrates with many TV apps

Backloggery - Backloggery helps gamers keep track of unplayed and unfinished games in their collection.

Letterboxd - Letterboxd is a social site for sharing your taste in film, now in public beta.

Flixster - Share movie reviews and ratings with friends.