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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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2026 World Cup
Bet St George survey: 40% of England fans tip World Cup win
Bet St George has published new research claiming four in ten England fans expect the Three Lions to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The betting brand said the poll of 1,000 England sports fans was conducted between 15 and 18 May 2026, with the tournament set to start on Thursday.
In the survey, 40% of respondents said they expect England to lift the trophy in North America this summer. Optimism is highest among 25 to 34 year olds, where 67% backed England to win.
The research also points to a broader national narrative around the team. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of fans agreed that the England team brings the nation together. Separately, 26% said a World Cup win would rank among their top three most important life events, rising to 31% among men.
Regionally, Bet St George said England sports fans living in Scotland were the most confident cohort in the dataset, with 77% backing England to win and 96% agreeing the team brings the nation together. Greater London also skewed optimistic (53% backing England; 36% placing a win among their most important life events), while Yorkshire and the Humber was more cautious (31% backing England; 19% ranking a win as a top life moment).
Andre Au, Marketing Director at Bet St George, said: “England has one of the most passionate sporting audiences in the world, but for a long time, it was the only nation in the UK without a sportsbook built around its own identity.
“We created Bet St George because supporting England is different. World Cup fever hits massively once the squad is announced. For England, it is the expectation. It’s all about the previous hurt, penalty shoot-outs, the build-up, the predictions, and the debates with your mates. The whole nation feels that this tournament might finally be the one.”
The post Bet St George survey: 40% of England fans tip World Cup win appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
act
Advanced Compliance Technology Launches AI-driven Compliance and Integrity Platform
Advanced Compliance Technology (ACT), an independent provider of geolocation, sports integrity and risk solutions for the global regulated betting and gaming industry, has launched its next-generation AI and machine learning-powered Compliance and Integrity Platform.
The new platform brings together geolocation, identity verification, fraud detection, behavioural monitoring and sports integrity checks into a single, real-time solution.
The self-optimising platform leverages advanced AI and machine learning (ML) models to process and analyse 100,000s of data points related to athletes, leagues, officials, teams, betting markets, bookmakers, player activity, transactional behaviour and geolocation intelligence.
Advanced ML models also monitor player performance, injuries and behavioural patterns to identify anomalies, suspicious activity, integrity risks and emerging compliance threats as they develop.
When an alert is raised, ACT’s team of compliance, fraud and integrity specialists are on hand to support customers with expert judgements, providing even greater confidence through human-in-the-loop oversight.
By bringing these traditionally siloed compliance disciplines together, ACT’s new dashboard provides operators, regulators and sport governing bodies with a unified view of risk across the entire player and betting lifecycle, facilitating faster, more informed decisions based on live data and risk analysis.
Mike Venner, Co-Founder and Director at Advanced Compliance Technology, said: “Traditional compliance systems were built in silos. ACT is building the next-generation oversight platform, bringing geolocation, KYC, AML, fraud detection, behavioural monitoring, and sports integrity together in a single AI and machine learning-powered ecosystem.
“By transforming fragmented data into connected intelligence, ACT identifies risks and patterns at a scale no human team could achieve alone. Combined with decades of compliance, fraud, and integrity expertise, our platform ensures that advanced technology is reinforced by experienced human oversight, delivering smarter decisions, stronger enforcement, and more effective compliance outcomes.”
The post Advanced Compliance Technology Launches AI-driven Compliance and Integrity Platform appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Alice Carraro
REEVO Announces New Partnership with Amigo Gaming
REEVO has announced a new partnership with Amigo Gaming, a Barcelona-based slot provider recognised for delivering immersive and high-performing gaming experiences across international markets. This collaboration further strengthens REEVO’s aggregation ecosystem, expanding its portfolio with a wide range of engaging content designed to drive player retention and operator growth.
Through this partnership, Amigo Gaming’s portfolio is now available on the REEVO aggregation platform, providing operators seamless access to more than 150 certified titles through a single and efficient integration. The addition of Amigo Gaming reinforces REEVO’s commitment to continuously expanding its platform with diverse, engaging, and globally proven content.
For REEVO, this partnership reflects its ongoing strategy to collaborate with innovative and fast-growing studios that enhance the value and performance of its aggregation platform.
Daniel Cuc, Head of Account Management at REEVO, said: “Partnering with Amigo Gaming is an exciting step forward for REEVO as we continue to strengthen our aggregation platform with engaging and high-performing content. Amigo Gaming has built a strong portfolio with a clear focus on player experience, creativity, and consistency, which aligns perfectly with our vision at REEVO. We are focused on building an ecosystem that helps operators stand out, and this partnership adds even more depth and variety to the content available through our platform.”
Alice Carraro, Senior Account Manager at Amigo Gaming, said: “At the end of the day, a great game is only as good as the platform hosting it, and that’s why working with REEVO feels so right. We pour a lot of energy into making our slots distinct, reliable, and genuinely fun to play, but REEVO has the seamless network needed to get them in front of the right audience. It’s the perfect match: we bring the engaging content players love, and they provide the smooth, hassle-free integration that operators appreciate. We’re really excited to grow together.”
The post REEVO Announces New Partnership with Amigo Gaming appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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