Metacritic is a review-aggregation site that collects professional critiques of entertainment and media to produce a single summary score and a quick reference for consumers and industry observers. The site compiles reviews of films, television series, video games, and music, and at times has included books. Its public summary number, the Metascore, is intended to reflect the overall critical reception by converting varied review formats into a standardized 0–100 scale. The main site is commonly referenced by critics and fans alike: Metacritic homepage.
How it works
Metacritic gathers published reviews from selected critics and outlets, converts disparate rating systems (stars, letter grades, percentages) into a unified 0–100 value, and combines those converted scores into a weighted average. The exact weights applied to different sources are not publicly disclosed, which the site states is part of its editorial methodology. The consolidated number appears alongside a color-coded indicator that summarizes sentiment: broadly positive, mixed, or negative. In addition to critic scores, Metacritic displays user-submitted ratings and comments, which are shown separately from the editorial Metascore.
Coverage and categories
Metacritic organizes material by broad categories—films, television, games, and music—with individual pages that list critic excerpts, full review links, and score breakdowns. The site also maintains specialized sections for particular formats and platforms, for example console or streaming releases. Examples of category pages include film and TV listings (film and TV), video game coverage (games), music reviews (music), and historical listings that have included books (books).
History and development
Originally launched in the late 1990s, the site expanded over time from a niche aggregator into a widely used reference. Its growth mirrored the increasing prominence of online criticism and the desire for concise, comparable assessments across media. As the site matured it added features such as individual critic excerpts, user score pages, and editorial summaries. The aggregation methodology and editorial decisions have evolved, but the basic purpose—summarizing critical reaction into an accessible figure—has remained constant. For a description of the site's scoring approach and methodology, readers can consult the site's informational pages: scoring and methodology.
Uses, influence and controversies
Metascores are often cited in reviews, advertising, and industry discussions because they offer a compact snapshot of critical opinion. Publishers, distributors, players and viewers may use scores to gauge reception; journalists and researchers use them to identify trends. However, the site has attracted criticism for several reasons: the proprietary weighting of sources is opaque, small sample sizes can skew averages for niche releases, and the separation of critic and user scores can generate disputes. A notable phenomenon is "review bombing," where coordinated user ratings can drastically lower a user score without matching shifts in critic sentiment.
Notable features and practical tips
- Metascore: an editorially compiled, weighted average intended to summarize critic response.
- User score: a separate average of public ratings and comments; useful for gauging audience reaction but susceptible to manipulation.
- Excerpts and links: each critic entry typically links to the original review so readers can read full context.
- Context matters: consult both the Metascore and several full reviews when making decisions rather than relying on a single number.
Overall, Metacritic remains a widely consulted tool for quickly assessing critical consensus, valuable when used alongside original reviews and other sources of context.