18. Codemasters

Year formed: 1985

Headquarters: Southam, U.K.

Studio: Southam, U.K.

Back on the ranking after a two-year absence, UK-based Codemasters reported record revenues in 2007, scooped up Sega's abandoned Racing Studio, and formed a partnership with casual games publisher and portal MumboJumbo.

The company's 65 percent review average beat last year's scores, and readers praised the publisher's "great racing games," saying how it "really set the bar high for Gran Turismo."

Other readers painted the publisher as an underdog that's "ambitious and focused on quality."

On our detailed survey, respondents gave high marks to Codemasters' pay and perks, as well as its milestone payments.

Codemasters' DiRT