Metacritic’s Metascore summarizes selected critics’ reviews; its User Score separately reflects votes from site visitors. The Metascore is a weighted critic-review average, not a plain mean—and user votes do not enter it. Metacritic does not publish the calculation’s exact weights.
What a Metascore measures
Metacritic describes the Metascore as a single score representing critical consensus for games, movies, television shows, and albums. It is built from published reviews by critics at publications Metacritic selects, not from every review or opinion online. Metacritic’s About Us page describes the score as a weighted average of critics’ scores combined into one number and color.
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For each review, Metacritic converts the critic’s grade 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. There is an important games-specific distinction: Metacritic says scores for game reviews on its site come from publications and are not assigned by Metacritic. See its Metascore methodology explanation.
Why the average is weighted
A weighted average does not give every review identical influence. Metacritic says it gives some publications and critics greater weight, citing differences in review quality and professional stature. For movies and television, it also weights individual critics. The company does not disclose the numeric weights or complete formula; when asked whether it can provide the individual critic weights, its support answer is “Absolutely not.” Metacritic’s methodology article and its answer about critic weights establish the limits of what can be said about the formula.
That means a reader can understand the ingredients and broad approach, but cannot independently reproduce a Metascore from the visible review grades. Any claim that a particular outlet has a specific multiplier, or that the score follows a known equation, goes beyond what Metacritic has disclosed.
Why some Metascores differ from a simple calculation
Metacritic says it normalizes the weighted averages for movies and music before producing their Metascores. It compares the adjustment to grading on a curve: scores are spread out rather than clustered as closely. Therefore, a movie or album Metascore may be higher or lower than a straightforward calculation from the individual review scores. Metacritic’s explanation is specific to movies and music; it should not be assumed to describe its games or television scores. Read Metacritic’s explanation of “weighted average.”
Metascore and User Score are different measures
Metacritic explicitly says user votes and comments are not included in the Metascore. The User Score appears separately and reflects the average vote from site visitors. So the two numbers represent different groups and different kinds of evidence:
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors| Score | Whose opinions count | How it is formed | What it represents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metascore | Critics whose reviews are selected by Metacritic | Weighted aggregate of published critic reviews | Critical reception |
| User Score | Visitors who vote on Metacritic | Average user vote | Visitor or community reception |
Metacritic’s support page states that its Metascore “does not include any votes or comments from our users.” See the support answer on user votes. A gap between the two scores is therefore a difference between critic reception and visitor voting, not evidence that one score has been blended into the other.
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How to read the number and color
Metacritic uses a 0–100 scale, with higher scores indicating better overall reviews. Its colors communicate favorable reception in green, mixed or average reception in yellow, and unfavorable reception in red. Current movie listings also use descriptive labels such as “Universal Acclaim,” “Generally Favorable,” “Mixed or Average,” and “Generally Unfavorable.” Metacritic’s movie overview shows those labels in its listings; the exact numeric breakpoints are not stated in the available text of its official explanations, so the labels should not be treated here as a precise threshold chart. For guidance on interpreting a score, consult Metacritic’s interpretation FAQ.
Quick Recap
What you can—and cannot—infer from a Metascore
- A Metascore is a summary of selected published critic reviews, not a universal poll of critics.
- The weighted approach means review influence is not necessarily equal, but Metacritic does not reveal the exact weights.
- For movies and music, normalization can move the result away from the raw weighted average; the same adjustment should not be presumed for games or television.
- The User Score is a separate average of visitor votes, not an input to the Metascore.
- Use the score as a compact indicator of critical reception, then read individual reviews when you want to know why critics responded as they did.
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