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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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Fairspin Casino Unveils the Royale Run Tournament Overview
Fairspin Casino presents the Fairspin Royale Run Tournament, an event designed to offer participants access to high-value rewards. The circle of privilege is introduced as a thematic element of the tournament and is presented as part of the overall concept.
From November 15 to December 25, gameplay is structured as a progression-based format, with rewards that include a luxury car, a premium motorcycle, and a branded watch.
The Fairspin Royale Run Tournament combines entertainment with measurable advancement through Fairspin’s transparent Play to Earn system. Each action contributes to overall progress, bringing participants closer to the available prizes.
Royale Run Tournament Prestige Overview
The Fairspin Royale Run Tournament is presented as a competitive event within the platform, featuring rewards intended to highlight its premium positioning. The tournament links in-game activity with defined outcomes, offering items such as a car, a motorcycle, and a watch as part of the prize structure.
By combining an incentive-based format with these rewards, Fairspin outlines its approach to transparent, activity-driven gaming. The Fairspin Royale Run Tournament reflects the platform’s emphasis on structured progression and measurable results.
Tournament Participation Details
The Fairspin Royale Run Tournament follows a Play to Earn format in which each bet contributes to advancement on the leaderboard. A total prize pool of $50,000 USDT will be allocated among 100 winners.
Participation is outlined as follows:
- Users can join the event by selecting “Participate” on the tournament page.
- Users can engage in any preferred games* — each bet boosts overall ranking.
*All games are eligible for the tournament, except those listed in Section 7.1.2.
Results are determined by the number of TFS tokens accumulated during the event. TFS is Fairspin’s digital asset used to reflect activity within the platform. Higher token totals correspond to higher positions on the leaderboard.
The winners will receive the following prizes:
- 1st place: 20,000 USDT or a car certificate
- 2nd place: 10,000 USDT or a motorcycle certificate
- 3rd place: 6,000 USDT or a watch certificate
- 97 finalists will share 14,000 USDT in additional rewards
Each action recorded during the tournament contributes to overall standing and eligibility for the listed prizes.
TFS Token Usage Overview
TFS tokens are used within the Fairspin ecosystem beyond the tournament period. They function as a mechanism for in-platform utility, as accumulated TFS can be converted into game currency, staked for defined returns, or exchanged in the Fairspin Store for items such as bonus funds, free spins, free bets, and selected technology products.
The platform outlines its token mechanics, withdrawal processes, and loyalty structure as part of its overall operating model, with each action contributing to measurable activity within the system.
About Fairspin Casino
Since its inception in 2018, Fairspin Casino has been at the forefront of innovation, combining a rewarding gaming experience with unparalleled blockchain transparency. With more than 10,000 games from over 100 top-notch developers, fast withdrawals, and enticing promotions, Fairspin continues to set the gold standard in the online casino industry.
The introduction of Fairspin’s TFS token has adjusted engagement dynamics on the platform. TFS is accumulated through rakeback and progression within Fairspin’s 10-level loyalty program. Tokens can be staked for defined returns or exchanged for a range of available benefits, including additional gameplay options and platform rewards.
Contact
TFS PR
TFS
Fairspin
Latest News
Vegangster Partners with Cevro AI to Scale AI-Powered Player Support
iGaming operators on the Vegangster platform can now deliver enterprise-level, hyper-personalised player support without expanding headcount.
Platform provider Vegangster has partnered with Cevro AI, the leader in iGaming AI support agents, to embed empathic and intelligent AI agents directly into the Vegangster ecosystem.
The integration enables even lean operator teams to provide 24/7, compliant, and personalised player support across casino and sportsbook brands. From onboarding and account questions to more complex payments, bonuses, and responsible gaming assistance, Cevro AI agents resolve issues instantly, take action on the Vegangster platform, and seamlessly hand off tickets to live agents when needed. The result is faster service, reduced workload for human teams, and higher player satisfaction at scale.
Cevro AI transforms customer support into a growth channel, combining automation, compliance, and empathy-driven engagement. Its agents operate across multiple languages and channels, providing VIP-level service while reducing operational load and improving retention.
“We build our platform to give operators the sharpest tools to launch quickly and scale with confidence. Partnering with Cevro AI means our clients can now provide round-the-clock support that is both personal and efficient, without increasing headcount.”
— Michael Oziransky, Chief Product Officer at Vegangster
Powered by advanced reasoning, deep iGaming expertise, and real empathy, Cevro AI transforms every support interaction into a seamless, trust-building experience. Through direct integration with Vegangster’s player account and engagement systems, it delivers a unified support solution that not only responds to issues but also resolves them. The AI takes real actions inside the operator’s back office and adapts to each brand’s size and growth stage.
“We are proud to join forces with Vegangster, a partner that shares our commitment to innovation in iGaming,”
— Chaim Heber, Chief Executive Officer at Cevro AI
About Vegangster
Vegangster provides a full-stack iGaming platform engineered for speed, scalability, and operator control. Its turnkey, white-label, and sweepstakes solutions integrate casino and sportsbook content, payments, CRM, compliance, and social features into a single mobile-first system. With Vegangster, operators can launch quickly and scale with confidence.
About Cevro AI
Cevro AI was built to transform how iGaming operators deliver support. Purpose-built for the industry, it combines deep domain expertise, human-level communication, seamless integrations, and compliance-first automation to resolve issues quickly and accurately. Cevro delivers personalised, human-quality support at scale so every player feels like a VIP while reducing workloads and eliminating the need to grow headcount.
Press Contact:
Romans Kozlovskis
Senior Content & PR Manager
Vegangster
Eskil Raknes Casino & Betting Expert at Kongebonus
Kongebonus Awards 2025 now open for voting
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Kongebonus, Norways largest expert led iGaming community for everything related to casino and betting in Norway, has opened the voting for the fourth consecutive Kongebonus Awards, recognising the studios and titles shaping the next wave of online casino entertainment.
The programme celebrates creativity, innovation and excellence, with nominees and winners decided by a blend of votes from real players across Norway and scores from an expert jury, ensuring balanced, credible recognition. As the only iGaming awards originating from Norway, the Kongebonus Awards also signal trends felt across Europe and the wider community.
Recognising skill across modern game development – from graphics and sound design to inventive gameplay mechanics – the 2025 categories include:
- Beste Spillutvikler – Best Game Provider
- Mest innovative Spillutvikler – Most Innovative Game Provider
- Beste Bonus Buy Slot – Best Bonus Buy Slot
- Hall of Fame – Både vår egen, i tillegg til lesernes favoritt – Hall of Fame –Kongebonus and the readers’ favourite
- Rising Star Spillutvikler – Rising Star Game Provider
- Beste nye slot – Best New Slot
- Beste Oppfølger Slot – Best Sequel Slot
Building on last year’s momentum, where Hacksaw Gaming was named Best Game Provider and Print Studios took Best New Slot for Dreadworks, the 2025 Awards once again spotlight both established leaders and rising studios.
Eskil Raknes, Casino & Betting Expert at Kongebonus, said: “Each year, the Kongebonus Awards highlight the ideas and craftsmanship that move our industry forward. For many developers, a Kongebonus Award is more than a trophy, it’s a respected mark of recognition that raises a studio’s profile and opens doors across the industry.What makes these awards meaningful is the combination of votes from real players in Norway and expert jury review: players tell us what resonates, and our jury validates quality and innovation. We look forward to receiving your votes and celebrating the standout achievements of 2025.”
Voting is now live at https://www.kongebonus.com/awards/2025-prisutdeling where readers can learn more and cast their votes.
The post Kongebonus Awards 2025 now open for voting appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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