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Fan Index Reveals: The MOST Popular Gaming Character of ALL TIME

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The most popular gaming character is Mario, receiving a whopping 451 points from the fan index
In second place is Sonic the Hedgehog with 394 points, receiving a staggering 59,700,700 Google searches in the last year
Legend of Zelda’s Link lands third place with 377 points, holding the largest number of Reddit mentions
The least popular gaming character is Jack from BioShock with just 48 points!

We’ve spent a lot of time at home, getting to know our favourite video games more than ever before, falling even more in love with a whole range of gaming characters. However, there is plenty of debate about which characters are the nations’ favourite!

With this in mind, experts at Stashbird.com wanted to discover the most popular gaming characters of all time from the best-selling video game franchises*. To thoroughly investigate, Stashbird.com created a gaming fans’ index by analysing the following factors:

Sales of the franchise
Average worldwide searches over the past year
Number of hashtags on Instagram
Number of Reddit mentions
Gamers’ popularity score (survey)

The top 10 most popular characters

Stashbird.com can reveal that in first place, and crowned the most popular gaming character, is Mario with a massive 451 fan index points!

Mario ranked first for franchise sales with a staggering 653,000,000 worldwide copies of Mario games sold, bagging him an easy 100 points. The fun-loving character also ranked sixth for average worldwide searches with 4,606,547 (86 points) in the past year alone! Despite these results, Mario only ranked 10th for popularity, with 45% of gamers choosing him as their ultimate favourite.

Not far behind in second place is Sonic the Hedgehog with 394 points. The extraterrestrial hedgehog ranked second for worldwide searches (59,700,000), giving him 97 points! He was voted the favourite by only 21% of gamers surveyed, however bagged himself 91 points for his 94,300 Reddit mentions.

Link from The Legend of Zelda places third, accumulating 377 points! It is no surprise as the star of the Nintendo series to have ranked top for Reddit mentions (3,920,000) and popularity score (74%), receiving 100 points for both! Interestingly, he ranked lower down for search volumes, with 1,196,200 average searches over the past year.

At number four is Donkey Kong with 354 points, scoring high with 3,930,000 yearly average searches (83 points), 570,000 Instagram hashtags (77 points) and 26,400 Reddit mentions (80 points).

To complete the 10 most popular gaming characters, the results are as follows:
5. Master Chief (Halo) 323 points, Crash (Crash Bandicoot) 323 points, Sora (Kingdom Hearts) 323 points
6. Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy) 314 points
7. Pac-Man (Pac-Man) 308 points
8. Kirby (Kirby) 306 points
9. Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher) 294 points

Closing the top 10 is Ezio Auditore Da Firenze, star of four of the Assassin’s Creed games, with 291 points!

Just making the bottom 10 is Joel Miller, ranking 25th out of a possible 34 places, from the Last of Us. This is not surprising as the franchise only scored 14 points for its 24 million sales. He also scored low on Reddit searches, receiving just 29 points for his 1,670 mentions.

John Marston from Red Dead Redemption and Simon Belmont from Castlevania were both among the least popular with 94 and 74 points, respectively.

Bioshock’s Jack rounds off the bottom 10 list with measly 48 points – a staggering 403 points less than first place contender Mario.

Methodology
1. *Stashbird.com analysed the list of best-selling video game franchises that have sold at least 20 million copies and pulled the most popular/recognised character from each to compile the list of 36 most popular gaming characters of all time.
2. The team then created an index looking at several factors, including sales of the franchise, search volumes using SemRush, the number of Instagram hashtags per character and the number of mentions on Reddit.
3. Finally, to complete the index Stashbird.com surveyed 4,567 gamers worldwide to ask them to vote for their favourite from the list to give each character a popularity score.
4. Games where there is no playable main character were excluded from the list.
5. Stashbird normalised the data by using the PERCENTRANK.INC function in Excel. This function returns the rank of a value in a data set as a percentage of the data set between 0 and 1. These values were then multiplied by 100 to make the range between 0 and 100. The maximum score a character could receive was 500.This enabled the team to rank the 36 characters from most to least popular based on their total points. The data was collected on 29/02/2021 and is correct as of then.

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Behind the Gloves

GR8 Tech Delivers Heavyweight Performance at SiGMA Central Europe 2025

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GR8 Tech stepped into SiGMA Central Europe (November 3–6, Rome) and left the ring with the strongest sales performance on record. Fueled by the boxing-themed Platform for Champions experience, the collaboration with Behind The Gloves, and demos of ULTIM8 Sportsbook, the Heavyweight Club energy translated directly into standout sales performance.

Platform for Champions, Proven in the Arena

Over three days, GR8 Tech logged 140 qualified meetings, which included sessions with existing clients that opened new opportunities and first-time conversations with operators and potential clients. The team also closed a deal on day 3 and advanced a high-potential MENA operator to late-stage discussions.

“SiGMA was incredibly successful for GR8 Tech, which confirms we’re on the right track and proves how our Platform for Champions stands out in a crowded field. Our Heavyweight Lounge became the meeting place for operators who want to go deep on strategy, margins, and market moves with purposeful, energetic, outcome-focused conversations,” said Sergey Ghazaryan, Chief Revenue Officer at GR8 Tech.

SiGMA Central Europe showcased the Heavyweight Club philosophy, inspired by GR8 Tech’s partnership with Ready To Fight by Oleksandr Usyk: champions create champions. By pairing athlete-grade preparation with operator-grade technology, GR8 Tech has grown a community of operators aligned by a code: launch first, perform under pressure, and compound advantage through the right partner.

Big Stage Energy from Behind The Gloves Experience

During the three-day conference, over 50 visitors participated in 15-minute pad-work sessions led by Lee McFarland, a British military veteran and iGaming consultant. The short power workouts transformed the GR8 Tech stand into a hub of energy that converted into productive business conversations.

“Performance is something you live, so we built an environment where attendees could experience it. Bringing Behind The Gloves to our booth embodied the discipline and drive we build into our technology,” said Yevhen Krazhan, Chief Sales Officer at GR8 Tech.

GR8 Tech’s team left Rome with disciplined follow-through and a full calendar of next steps. The Lounge and “Behind The Gloves” drove high-quality conversations, and the company will continue to improve the experience for champions at future events.

Ready to fight for greatness? Connect with GR8 Tech and step into the ring.

The post GR8 Tech Delivers Heavyweight Performance at SiGMA Central Europe 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Africa

Booming Games and SportPesa forge strategic partnership to elevate the African gaming market

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Booming Games is thrilled to announce a significant milestone in its growth journey through a strategic partnership with the leading African operator, SportPesa. This collaboration marks a pivotal step forward in Booming Games’ mission to expand its footprint in the African gaming market.

As a result of this partnership, Booming Games’ high-quality slots are now seamlessly integrated into SportPesa’s platform, enabling players across Africa to access an array of top-performing titles.

Notable games include fan favourites such as ‘Burning Classic’, ‘Gold Gold Gold’, ‘TNT Bonanza’, and ‘Cash Pig’. Additionally, SportPesa’s players will now have access to Booming Games’ diverse portfolio, featuring exciting games like ‘Ronaldinho Spins’, ‘Power of the Vikings’ and ‘Buffalo Hold and Win’.

This collaboration underscores SportPesa’s commitment to growth and innovation, as well as its strategic focus on fostering robust partnerships to achieve new heights in the global gaming industry with partners such as Booming Games.

Solomon Godwin, Head of Africa at Booming Games, expressed his enthusiasm: “We’re delighted to continue our expansion in the African betting markets, and SportPesa’s strong and trusted brand will only enhance these possibilities. Our slot offerings are as wide-ranging as they are high quality, providing exceptional entertainment and sustainability for their customers. We believe we can offer real value to African players.”

Paul Wilson, Senior Product Manager at SportPesa, added: “We are very happy with the new partnership with Booming Games. Offering their immersive, dynamic, and vibrant games to our customers in Kenya, Sportpesa Tanzania, and around the globe on our platform is exciting. Booming Games’ titles will be a great addition to our market-leading casino lobby, and I’m sure our customers will enjoy playing them.”

The post Booming Games and SportPesa forge strategic partnership to elevate the African gaming market appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Hula Moolah

SlotMatrix turns up the heat with Powderkeg Studios’ Hula Moolah

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SlotMatrix, the world’s largest casino aggregator, is bringing the fire with the launch of Hula Moolahan explosive new slot from Powderkeg Studios.

Set in a tropical paradise where Tiki gods rule and volcanoes erupt, Hula Moolah turns every spin into a molten-hot chance to win. The game’s centrepiece is the Hold & Spin Feature, ignited when the vibrant Tiki Wilds leap into the volcano. 

The wins from the triggering spin become lava that fuels the feature, heating up rewards to new, fiery levels.

Tiki Sacrifices can appear at any time to boost adjacent multipliers and reset the number of spins, creating a chain reaction of escalating rewards. Each sacrifice upgrades nearby Lava Pools, with multipliers rising up to 25x, offering explosive potential with every spin.

The excitement continues with the Free Spin Bonus, where more Tiki Wilds join the reels to increase the odds of triggering Hold & Spin. Landing 3, 4, or 5 Bonus symbols awards up to 12 Free Spins, with retriggers keeping the heat alive. 

Hula Moolah is exclusively distributed via SlotMatrix, and as with all SlotMatrix exclusive titles, is enhanced by EveryMatrix’s proprietary gamification tools, including free spins and leaderboards.

The slot can also be seamlessly integrated with EngageSuitethe all-in-one player loyalty solution.

Stephen Orchard, Head of Commercial Operations, SlotMatrix, said: “Powderkeg Studios outdid themselves with this one. Hula Moolah is pure fire. A high-impact game that blends immersive design with thrilling mechanics that deliver real intensity, making this one of our most explosive titles yet.”

Jesper Gawell, COO & CMO, Supremeland Gaming, added: “We are proud to support Powderkeg Studios in bringing Hula Moolah to life exclusively with SlotMatrix. This partnership lets us focus on bold concepts and premium execution. SlotMatrix provides the right tools to turn great games into hits.” 

The post SlotMatrix turns up the heat with Powderkeg Studios’ Hula Moolah appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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