Metacritic Scraper: Metascores, Games, Movies & TV

Metacritic Scraper by RecordsData exports metascores, user scores, critic and user reviews, cast and crew for games, movies, TV shows and music albums from metacritic.com. Filter by platform, genre, year and minimum or maximum score, search by title, or fetch full records by slug. 62 output fields, onlyNew monitoring, CSV, Excel, JSON or XML. No login, no API key. Updated for build 0.1.13 on 2026-10-10.

Metacritic Scraper reads the same structured data service the Metacritic website uses, so ranked lists paginate cleanly and every score matches the site. Movies alone hold 17,420 titles and the list pages through all of them. It suits store owners, analysts, journalists and studios that need review data as a table.

🎬 What does Metacritic Scraper do?

• Metascore lists for games, movies, TV and music, sorted by metascore, user score or release date, with year range and genre filters.
• Score filters: minMetascore, maxMetascore and minUserScore, so "PC games rated 85 or more" is one input.
• Platform filter for games: 23 platforms, and each row carries the score of that platform.
• Search by title across games, movies and TV, or fetch full records by slug with sentiment split, platform scores, cast and crew, awards and where to watch.
• Critic and user reviews as separate rows, filtered by positive, mixed or negative sentiment.
• Monitor mode: onlyNew skips titles and reviews you already received.
• Export as CSV, Excel, JSON, XML or HTML, or via the API.

📊 What data can you extract from Metacritic?

The output has 62 fields (61 data fields plus error). Fields that do not exist for a record type are left out.

Record type	Main fields
browse-title, search-result	title, slug, mediaType, year, releaseDate, metaScore, reviewCount, userScore, genres, platforms, contentRating, mustPlay, description, imageUrl, url. Music rows add artist.
detail	The fields above plus criticSentiment, criticPositive, criticMixed, criticNegative, userSentiment, userReviewCount, platformScores. Games add developers, publishers, franchises, regions.
detail (movies, TV)	directors, writers, cast and crew (up to 20 each), awards, tags, tagline, imdbId, officialSite, streamingServices, rentServices, buyServices, networks, seasons, seasonCount, duration, inTheaters
critic-review	titleSlug, titleName, publication, author, score, quote, date, externalUrl, platform
user-review	reviewId, author, score, quote, date, spoiler, thumbsUp, thumbsDown, platform
all	recordType, metacriticId, scrapedAt, error

🧾 Sample output of the Metacritic scraper

Real row from a cloud run on 2026-10-03 (games):

{
  "recordType": "browse-title",
  "metacriticId": 1300001290,
  "title": "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)",
  "slug": "the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time",
  "mediaType": "games",
  "year": 1998,
  "metaScore": 99,
  "reviewCount": 22,
  "contentRating": "E",
  "platforms": ["Nintendo 64"],
  "genres": ["Open-World Action"],
  "mustPlay": false,
  "description": "As a young boy, Link is tricked by Ganondorf, the King of the Gerudo Thieves...",
  "url": "https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time/",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-04T03:53:20.933Z"
}

This sample comes from an earlier build; current runs add more columns. A full record for elden-ring returned metascore 96, "Universal acclaim", 86 critic reviews, user score 8.4 from 24,740 ratings, developer From Software and five platforms.

💰 How much does it cost to scrape Metacritic?

Pay per event, only for rows saved to the dataset. Error rows, "title not found" rows, empty searches and failed runs cost nothing.

Event	What you get	Price
Title row	One ranked or searched title, also a music album	$0.01 on every plan
Full title record	One title with user score, platform scores, cast and crew	$0.012 on the free plan, $0.0115 Bronze, $0.011 Silver, $0.0105 Gold and above
Critic review	One critic review row	$0.01 on every plan
User review	One Metacritic user review row	$0.005 on every plan

Worked examples on the free plan: 1,000 ranked title rows cost 1,000 x $0.01 = $10.00. 1,000 full title records cost 1,000 x $0.012 = $12.00 ($10.50 on Gold). One game with a full record and 100 critic reviews costs $0.012 + 100 x $0.01 = $1.012, and 300 user reviews add 300 x $0.005 = $1.50, for $2.512. A test run of 5 PC games with minMetascore 85 was billed 5 title events, $0.05. A maximum cost per run stops the actor cleanly. Free users get a 10-row preview.

🚀 How to scrape Metacritic (3 steps)

1. Choose a media type, sort and filters, or type a search keyword, or paste title slugs such as elden-ring.
2. Click Start, then download the dataset as CSV, Excel, JSON or XML.

⚙️ Metacritic Scraper input

Field	Meaning	Default
includeBrowse	Scrape the ranked list for the media type	true
productType	games, movies, tv or music	games
sortBy	-metaScore (best first), metaScore (worst), -userScore, userScore, -releaseDate	-metaScore
yearMin, yearMax	Release year range	none
platforms	Games only: pc, ps5, ps4, switch, xbox-series-x and 18 more	empty
genres	Metacritic genre names, any match	empty
minMetascore, maxMetascore	Metascore range, 0 to 100	none
minUserScore	Minimum user score, 0 to 10	none
searchQuery	Title keyword, replaces the browse list	empty
searchOnlySelectedType	Only the chosen media type in search	false
titleSlugs	Slugs or URLs for full records	empty
includeCriticReviews, maxReviewsPerTitle	Critic review rows per slug (1 to 5,000)	false, 40
includeUserReviews, maxUserReviewsPerTitle	User review rows per slug (1 to 5,000, $0.005 each)	false, 40
reviewSentiment	all, positive, mixed or negative	all
onlyNew, stateKey, resetSeen	Monitor mode, name, clear memory	false, empty, false
maxItems	Maximum rows for the whole run	10

Invalid inputs, such as platforms on a movie run, fail in seconds before any charge.

PC games with a minimum score:

{
  "productType": "games",
  "platforms": ["pc"],
  "minMetascore": 85,
  "maxItems": 50
}

Negative user reviews of one title, plus its full record:

{ "includeBrowse": false, "titleSlugs": ["elden-ring"], "includeUserReviews": true, "reviewSentiment": "negative" }

📦 Metacritic Scraper output

If a search or slug finds nothing, the run finishes as succeeded with a clear status message and charges nothing. If Metacritic cannot be reached and no rows were delivered, the run fails instead of pretending to be healthy. Music limits: no genre filter, search, album details or reviews, and the source is HTML list pages.

⚖️ Metacritic scraper vs alternatives

Store pages read on 2026-10-10; "not listed" means the page does not show the feature.

Capability	This actor	cryptosignals	tortuga
Media types	Games, movies, TV, music lists	Games, movies, TV, music	Games, movies, TV
Score filters	Min and max metascore, min user score	Not listed	Not listed
Platform filter	23 platforms, platform score per row	Not listed	Yes, games
User reviews	Yes, sentiment filter, up to 5,000 per title	Yes, in detail mode	Yes
Monitor mode	onlyNew for titles and reviews	Not listed	Yes, new or changed
Price per 1,000	$10 title, $12 full record, $10 critic review, $5 user review	$5 per result	$4 title, $2 list row, $2 review

parseforge ($19 per 1,000) lists a platform and minMetascore filter but no user reviews, cast or monitoring. goat255 (from $4 per 1,000 titles) lists slugs and full records but no filters or reviews. We charge about twice cryptosignals and 2.5 times tortuga per title, and the pages of both did not list our score filters. The higher price buys server-side score and platform filters, 62 fields and sentiment-filtered reviews. If you only need a flat title list, a cheaper actor fits better.

🧩 Use cases

Shortlists of best PC games, release monitoring with onlyNew, sentiment mining of user reviews, storefront enrichment with metascores, critic quote roundups and score analysis by year, genre or platform.

🔌 Run Metacritic Scraper via API and integrations

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('RecordsData/metacritic-scores-scraper').call({
    productType: 'games', platforms: ['pc'], minMetascore: 85, maxItems: 100,
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

Schedule runs weekly, or connect the dataset to Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets or Slack.

🤖 Metacritic Scraper MCP server for AI agents

AI agents can call this Actor through the Apify MCP server at https://mcp.apify.com?tools=RecordsData/metacritic-scores-scraper. The URL loads only this Actor as a tool. Choose it when an agent needs Metacritic metascores, user scores, critic or user reviews, or cast and crew as structured data.

Add this to your MCP client configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code or any client that supports remote MCP servers):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=RecordsData/metacritic-scores-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Example agent prompt:

Use the Metacritic Scraper to list the 10 best-rated PC games from 2024 with a metascore of at least 85, then get the full record for elden-ring including 3 critic reviews and 3 negative user reviews, and compare the metascore with the user score.

It returns title rows, full records, critic review rows or user review rows.

🛡️ Is it legal to scrape Metacritic?

The actor collects publicly visible scores and review metadata at a respectful request rate and does not log in or bypass access controls. Quotes stay the property of their publications. Review Metacritic's terms before commercial use.

❓ Frequently asked questions

What is a Metacritic metascore?

A Metacritic metascore is a weighted average of professional critic reviews on a 0 to 100 scale. Metacritic Scraper returns it for every title, and full records add the critic sentiment label and the positive, mixed and negative review counts behind the score.

How do I get a title slug?

A Metacritic title slug is the last part of the title URL. For metacritic.com/game/elden-ring/ the slug is elden-ring. Browse and search rows include a slug field that you can paste straight into the titleSlugs input to fetch full records or critic reviews.

Does it include user scores?

Yes. Full title records fetched by slug include the user score on a 0 to 10 scale, the user sentiment and the user review count. Ranked list rows carry the user score too, and the minUserScore filter works on them. Search rows carry the metascore only. Full records cost $0.012 each on the free plan.

Why did I get 0 results?

A search keyword has no match, a year range or score filter contains no titles, or a slug does not exist on metacritic.com. The run still finishes as succeeded with a status message and charges nothing. Check the spelling and loosen the filters.

Am I charged for errors or missing titles?

No. Error rows and "title not found" rows are saved without a charge event. Duplicate titles are removed before charging, and a run that fails costs no result events. You pay only for rows that are saved to the dataset, nothing else.

How many rows can I get?

Browse lists run past the old 10,000-row stop, so movies alone return all 17,420 titles, and keyword search returns up to 1,000 rows. Free Apify users get 10 rows per run as a preview. Use maxItems to cap the total rows for the run.

Can I get only games, only movies or only TV?

Yes. Set the productType input to games, movies, tv or music, and the ranked list covers only that media type. Combine it with a year range and a sort order. Keyword search returns all media types mixed unless searchOnlySelectedType is on.

Can I limit my spend?

Yes. Set a maximum cost per run in the Apify run options and the actor stops cleanly with the status "Stopped at your max charge limit". You can also lower maxItems. On the free plan, a title row costs $0.01 and a full title record $0.012.

How do the score filters work?

There are minMetascore, maxMetascore and minUserScore. A minimum stops paging as soon as scores drop below it. A maximum or a worst-first read uses a binary search of about 14 one-row requests to find where to start. Titles without a score are never returned when a score filter is set.

Does the platform filter change the score?

Yes, for games. The platforms you pick are sent to Metacritic as slugs such as pc, ps5, switch and xbox-series-x, and each ranked row carries the score of that platform, because the PC and PS5 scores of one game differ. Full records add platformScores.

Can I get user reviews?

Yes. Turn on includeUserReviews and set maxUserReviewsPerTitle from 1 to 5,000 for the slugs you give. Rows carry reviewId, author, score, text, date, spoiler flag, thumbs and platform. reviewSentiment filters by sentiment and applies to critic reviews too. Each user review row is billed at $0.005 on every plan, so 1,000 cost $5.00.

What does music support cover?

Music reads the public album list pages: sort by metascore, user score or newest, with year range and score limits. Rows carry title, artist, release date, scores, description, image and link. There is no genre filter, search, album detail or album reviews. The source is HTML, so a layout change on Metacritic can break it.

How much cast and crew do I get?

For movies and TV, full records carry cast with roles, crew with roles and departments, directors and writers. Metacritic's service returns at most 20 cast and 20 crew entries per title, so long credit lists are cut there. Games have no cast; their records carry developers, publishers, franchises and regions instead.

Can I monitor for new titles or reviews?

Yes. Turn on onlyNew and optionally set stateKey to name the memory. Titles and reviews seen in earlier runs are skipped before the maxItems cap and before charging, so a repeat run with nothing new returns 0 rows and costs nothing. Set resetSeen to start over.

Why did the sort order change?

The old metaScore sort was meant to be worst first but returned the best-first list. It is fixed, so metaScore now really starts with the lowest scores. TV full records were also always reported as not found and now work, and search rows no longer show a reviewCount of 0.

🎮 Want more entertainment data? Other RecordsData scrapers

• OpenCritic Games Scraper for game review scores.
• Rotten Tomatoes Scraper for movie and TV Tomatometer data.
• Steam Reviews Scraper for player reviews.

🆘 Support

Found a bug? Open the Issues tab or write to contact.punkrecordsdata@gmail.com.

Last updated: 2026-10-11