Latest News
Fan Index Reveals: The MOST Popular Gaming Character of ALL TIME
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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Gaming
OUD and SuperGaming Launch Prime Rush in Brazil, Bringing Battle Royale and Extraction Gameplay for Mobile
- Prime Rush is now live in Brazil on Google Play Store for Android and the App Store for iOS
- Features a dual win condition through survival or Cosmium extraction, new Brazilian heroes, and tactical abilities
- Launches with Ranked Season 1, Battle Pass Season 1: Street Legends, and multiple limited-time modes
Prime Rush, a new mobile shooter combining battle royale survival with extraction-style gameplay, has officially launched in Brazil on the Google Play Store for Android and the App Store for iOS. Developed by SuperGaming in partnership with Spacecaps, the parent company of LOUD, the game has been built with direct feedback from Brazilian players and creators during its Closed Beta and Early Access phases.
Prime Rush introduces a unique twist to the traditional battle royale format. In addition to surviving until the end of the match, squads can secure an early victory by extracting Cosmium, a rare resource that spawns during the final circle. This dual win condition creates a match environment where squads must decide whether to outlast opponents in a final-circle finish or take a more tactical route to win through Cosmium extraction.
The game also features a flexible tactical ability system built for high-tempo mobile combat. Active Abilities such as DeadEye, Shield Dome, Super Speed, and Hunter’s Instinct allow players to approach matches through precision, defence, mobility, and intel respectively.
Speaking on this development Bruno Bittencourt, CEO of LOUD said, “Brazil has one of the most passionate gaming communities in the world, yet we’ve spent years playing games that weren’t built with us in mind. Prime Rush is a game created for Brazilian players, shaped daily by the communities we’ve built over the past decade. We’ve been listening to them every single day. It’s a game that finally feels like home.”
“Brazil has one of the most competitive mobile shooter audiences that we have seen, and from the start we wanted Prime Rush to be both authentic and accessible,” said Roby John, CEO and Co-founder of SuperGaming. “For us, that meant building a game that feels true to Brazil while also making sure it runs smoothly across a broad range of devices so more players can experience it the way it was meant to be played.”
The battle takes place on the island of Maré, the setting for Prime Rush’s battle royale extraction experience. Prime Rush also includes a Mini TDM mode (Favela). This is a quick 4v4 mode designed for shorter, high-intensity firefights on the go.
At launch, the game introduces a lineup of new Brazilian heroes including Juliana, Rafael, Miguel, Rogério, Dos Santos, Julia, and Gustavo, with character customization allowing players to personalize their experience. Players can also customize their weapon experience with the new Evo-X skins. These are upgradeable gun skins featuring three switchable Chromas, enhanced visuals and VFX, unique inspect and reload animations, custom fire SFX, unique kill feed treatment, and distinct muzzle and tracer effects.
Prime Rush goes live with multiple limited-time modes including DeadEye Rush, Pants in the Air, and Weapon Roulette, offering players shorter duration matches for quick jump-in and jump-out between sessions beyond its core battle royale extraction gameplay.
The game launches with its first Ranked Season, allowing players to climb through Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Champion, Legend, and Cosmic.
Check out the launch trailer right here: youtube.com/watch?v=Op5KreKoLmY
Prime Rush is now available to download in Brazil on the Google Play Store for Android and the App Store for iOS.
Season 1 Battle Pass: Street Legends
The Season 1 Battle Pass: Street Legends is also here, bringing a new lineup of rewards for players as they progress through the season. These include:
- New Avatars: Laura, Juliana, Rafael
- Weapon Skins: Subliminar, Grafitada, Suavidade, Firmeza, Raiz, Brabo, AK-BR7
- Melee Weapon: Chinela (Slipper)
- Vehicle Skin: Lenda Urbana
- Additional Rewards: Stickers, Dive Trails, Emotes, and Portraits
Prime Rush System Requirements
Powered by SuperPlatform, SuperGaming’s in-house tech-stack, Prime Rush currently supports Android 7 and above with 4GB RAM, as well as iOS 15 and above. Based on Early Access performance reports, the game delivers a stable 40 FPS on lower-end devices with recommended graphics settings, while mid to high-end devices can achieve up to 60 FPS.
This makes Prime Rush playable across a wide range of mobile devices, helping ensure that more players in Brazil can access the game on both Android and iOS.
SuperGaming is continuously optimizing Prime Rush to support more devices over time. Performance and visual fidelity may vary depending on hardware and user-selected graphics settings.
For more information follow Prime Rush on Instagram and TikTok.
The post OUD and SuperGaming Launch Prime Rush in Brazil, Bringing Battle Royale and Extraction Gameplay for Mobile appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
Latest News
Genius Sports & Pac-12 strike wide-ranging integrity, tech and AI partnership to power authorized betting, moment-based advertising and performance analysis
- Genius Sports will deploy its data and AI platform GeniusIQ across Pac-12 football and basketball competitions.
- New AGO framework will responsibly license official data and IP to regulated sportsbooks, who implement robust integrity safeguards, including eliminating risky bets, information sharing and cooperation, and refusing bets from prohibited bettors.
- Genius Sports’ Moment Engine to enable brands to synchronize advertising with game action across broadcast, streaming and digital inventory.
Genius Sports (NYSE: GENI) today announced a new multi-year integrity, technology and AI partnership with the Pac-12 Conference (“Pac-12”) to power the next generation of authorized and responsible sports betting, integrity, fan engagement and monetization, and performance analysis in college sports.
The partnership reinforces Genius Sports’ role as the operating system of modern sport. As part of the agreement, Genius Sports will deploy GeniusIQ, its data and AI platform, in every venue across Pac-12 football and men’s and women’s basketball competitions – creating a single, intelligent foundation for tracking data and video capture, real-time insights, and commercial activation.
Genius Sports and Pac-12 will collaborate on a wide range of innovations designed to safeguard integrity, improve the fan experience, and unlock new revenue streams.
Authorized betting and integrity safeguard
Genius Sports will serve as the exclusive distributor of official data from Pac-12 competitions to licensed sportsbooks worldwide. Through this role, the company will administer a new Authorized Gaming Operator (“AGO”) program designed to safeguard the integrity of Pac-12 competitions and protect student-athletes.
In addition to eliminating any negative and risky bet types, the AGO program will create greater transparency, information sharing and cooperation between the Pac-12, Genius Sports and licensed sportsbooks, and prevent prohibited bettors from placing wagers; all designed to combat the threat of betting-related corruption and protect student-athletes.
A new era of moment-based marketing
Genius Sports’ Moment Engine will enable brands to activate advertising in real-time around key moments in Pac-12 games across broadcast, streaming and digital platforms, transforming live sports data into programmable advertising opportunities.
For Pac-12 advertisers, this unlocks the ability to activate around Pac-12 moments that matter most, instantly, with greater precision and at scale.
Next-level performance insight
The partnership will also support Pac-12 schools by offering the most advanced performance analysis on the planet.
Programs will have access to the GeniusIQ-powered Performance Studio platform, providing coaches and athletes with cutting-edge analytics and video tools used by the majority of NBA and WNBA teams.
“College sports are entering a new era where official data and real-time intelligence power everything from integrity and betting and media to performance,” said Mark Locke, CEO at Genius Sports. “By deploying GeniusIQ across Pac-12 venues, we are building the data infrastructure that connects leagues, sportsbooks, broadcasters and advertisers in real-time.”
“The Pac-12 is thrilled to announce this partnership which will allow a college sports conference, for the first time, to impose direct and meaningful integrity restrictions on sports books who receive and use Pac-12 data,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould. “This partnership positions the Pac-12 as an early-mover in the data rights space, connecting to our strategic vision and challenger mindset to push boundaries in a disciplined fashion while introducing new opportunities for brand elevation and revenue growth.”
The post Genius Sports & Pac-12 strike wide-ranging integrity, tech and AI partnership to power authorized betting, moment-based advertising and performance analysis appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
1spin4win
1spin4win launches “Spring Money Rain” network promotion with €30,000 prize pool
1spin4win, an established slot provider, announces the start of a new Cash & Drops campaign designed to help casino operators drive player engagement and increase GGR.
The “Spring Money Rain” promotion will run from April 9 to 22, 2026. The prize pool has been increased to €30,000, up from the previous 1spin4win campaigns. During two weeks, players can land 790 cash rewards while wagering real money in dedicated slots. Prizes will be randomly assigned to non-winning spins, adding an element of surprise to the gaming experience.
By launching “Spring Money Rain”, 1spin4win continues to support operators with proven promotional tools to increase player activity and grow revenue. iGaming brands like BitStarz, gg.bet, Rox, and mBit choose these solutions for the strong results they deliver.
Notably, the provider’s most recent standard Cash & Drops, “12 Days of Magic Wins”, engaged 125 participants and drove a 38% surge in player count and a 20% boost in bet sum.
The new campaign brings together 13 diverse slots from the 1spin4win portfolio. Designed to capture the lively energy of spring, the lineup blends vibrant classics with captivating adventures, including:
- Dolphin’s Wealth Win Spins (сoming soon)
- Lucky Honey (сoming soon)
- Lucky Arena Hold and Win
- Book of Money
- Gold Oceanica Hold and Win
- Lucky Jane in Egypt Hold and Win
- Golden Joker Fortune
- Lucky Safari Hold and Win
- Very Lucky 243
- Clover Fest Hold and Win
- Buffalo’s Wealth Fortune
- Cash’n Spins 243 Plus
- Classic Chilli 243
One of the main gems of this selection is the recently released Lucky Arena Hold and Win. With two charmingly quirky gladiators as lead characters and playful visuals, the game offers a humorous take on ancient battles. At the heart of the slot is the Hold and Win round with two Jackpots — the x100 Minipot Coin and x1000 Megapot.
Alena Zaytseva, Senior Business Account Manager at 1spin4win, shared, “We’re kicking off the season with our new ‘Spring Money Rain’ network promotion. This time, we’ve raised the stakes with a €30,000 prize pool — our largest Cash & Drops fund so far. The campaign uses our proven monetary-reward mechanic, which has consistently driven strong results in player retention and spin frequency. By combining a larger prize pool with seamless automated bonuses, we’re giving our partners a powerful tool to boost turnover without any additional operational effort.”
To make participation convenient and stress-free, 1spin4win ensures that all features are automatically set up, and wins are credited directly to players’ accounts.
For further details or inquiries, please contact the dedicated 1spin4win Account Manager or Olga Hlukhovskaya, Business Development Director at 1spin4win, at [email protected].
About 1spin4win
1spin4win is a trusted game provider founded in May 2021 by ambitious developers with over 15 years of experience in the gambling industry. Since its inception, the company has expanded its portfolio to include over 190 classic online slots, all characterized by quality mathematics, transparent mechanics, and well-balanced gameplay — key factors that drive strong player retention. The studio aims to release an average of four new games each month in 2026 and offers effective promotional tools for casino operators to help them enhance player loyalty.
The post 1spin4win launches “Spring Money Rain” network promotion with €30,000 prize pool appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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