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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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Mindway AI Announces Strategic Partnership with Amelco

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Mindway AI, a leader in AI-driven responsible gambling solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Amelco, a renowned B2B platform provider known for building bespoke trading and sportsbook solutions for the gambling industry’s leading operators, including Fanatics, Hard Rock Bet, Entain, and Flutter Entertainment. The collaboration aims to extend Amelco’s compliance and licensing services globally, enhancing player protection and regulatory adherence across multiple markets.

Founded in 2006 by veterans of the global financial sector, Amelco has positioned itself at the forefront of the industry through its advanced modular end-to-end solutions and harnesses the best technical talent to deliver innovative solutions to top-tier global partners.

Mindway AI will integrate its pioneering RG technology with Amelco’s robust platform, bolstering the compliance toolkit available to operators. This partnership underscores a shared commitment to responsible gaming practices and sets new benchmarks for regulatory compliance and player safety worldwide.

“Partnering with Amelco aligns perfectly with our mission to promote safer gambling environments globally. Amelco’s in-depth industry expertise and innovative solutions create the perfect synergy for integrating our AI-driven compliance tools, helping operators navigate the complex landscape of global gambling regulations,” said Rasmus Kjaergaard, CEO at Mindway AI.

Brandon Walker, Head of Business Development at Amelco, added: “At Amelco, we pride ourselves on delivering the industry’s most advanced technology – and partnering with Mindway AI reinforces that commitment.

“By providing our tier-one operators with these market-leading AI tools, we are ensuring that the world’s biggest brands have the best-in-class protection they need to lead the way in responsible gaming.”

The post Mindway AI Announces Strategic Partnership with Amelco appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Clara Steffen Managing Director at Iron Heart Games

Yggdrasil Taps Iron Heart Games for YGG Masters Lineup

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Yggdrasil has welcomed a new, ambitious provider to its lineup of YGG Masters partners in independent slot supplier Iron Heart Games, as the program continues to draw in top boutique studios, offering exclusive content from some of the finest game developers in the industry.

Iron Heart is emphasizing math and volatility, with every title centered on cinematic themes, unique characters, and unforgettable soundscapes. Blending narrative development with captivating visuals, the studio’s initial games are designed to integrate smoothly into Yggdrasil’s mythology-focused content collection.

Through the YGG Masters program, Iron Heart Games will be able to utilize all of the supplier’s Game Engagement Mechanics (GEMs) for its content and will also have a full path to market through Yggdrasil’s distribution network.

Iron Heart Games is the 24th studio to participate in the program, allowing boutique developers to utilize Yggdrasil’s technology to create top-quality titles that have achieved success in international markets, featuring a variety of themes, styles, and mathematical models.

Zoe Bird, Head of Masters at Yggdrasil, said: “At Yggdrasil, we love working with bold, independent studios that want to do things a little differently, and that is exactly what we see in Iron Heart Games.

“Iron Heart Games’ creativity coupled with our leading technology and tools makes this partnership a winning combination that sees us strengthening our successful and growing YGG Masters offering.”

Clara Steffen, Managing Director at Iron Heart Games, said: “Partnering with Yggdrasil marks a defining milestone for Iron Heart Games. We’ve built our studio around disciplined game design, strong math, and cinematic storytelling and Yggdrasil gives us the scale and infrastructure to bring that vision to a global audience.

“Through YGG Masters, we can stay focused on crafting standout titles while leveraging a distribution network that is second to none.”

The post Yggdrasil Taps Iron Heart Games for YGG Masters Lineup appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Eric Castro Head of Games Content Casino & Games at Paf Group

Octoplay Advances Global Expansion Strategy in Partnership with Paf

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Octoplay is speeding up its international expansion by launching with Paf. The merger allows the studio’s collection of games to be available to a top Nordic operator, thereby broadening the company’s presence in regulated markets.

This rollout comes after a phase of swift growth in regulated markets. In January 2026, Octoplay launched with Superbet in Brazil and PokerStars in Italy and Spain. This momentum follows the company’s biggest U.S. market launch thus far in Michigan, going live at the same time as BetMGM, FanDuel, Fanatics, and Rush Street Interactive.

“Launching with Paf highlights our momentum in delivering content to the industry’s leading operators,” says Ralitsa Georgieva, Director of Business Development at Octoplay. “This partnership represents a significant step in our strategy as we continue our rapid rollout across regulated markets worldwide.”

“We are pleased to partner with Octoplay and introduce their portfolio to our players,” says Eric Castro, Head of Games Content Casino & Games at Paf Group. “Their track record of delivering high-quality gaming experiences aligns with our commitment to providing the best entertainment to our customers.”

Octoplay has obtained active licenses in 15 regions, comprising the United Kingdom, New Jersey, Michigan, Italy, Spain, Ontario, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Greece, Romania, Malta, Slovakia, and Brazil. This swift expansion, accomplished in under three years since the company’s launch, establishes Octoplay as a collaborator for major operators in significant global markets.

The post Octoplay Advances Global Expansion Strategy in Partnership with Paf appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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