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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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Booming Games
Booming Games launches Inferno Fortune InstaStrike slot
Booming Games has launched Inferno Fortune InstaStrike, a new slot title built on a 3×3 grid with 10 paylines and a maximum win potential of 2,000x.
The game includes an InstaStrike mechanic where landing two or more InstaStrike symbols anywhere on the reels triggers an immediate payout between 2x and 2000x the bet. Booming Games also said paying symbols can reveal a Mini InstaStrike overlay symbol, with three unlocking a random prize worth between 2x and 2000x the original bet.
Additional features include a Gamble option on base game wins, offering a “double-or-nothing” or “quadruple-or-nothing” round. Three Scatter symbols trigger ten Free Spins, with no limit on re-triggers.
Craig Asling, Director of Games at Booming Games, said: “With innovative InstaStrike features and Free Spins, we’re confident that players will love the latest addition to our collection. With its familiar layout and fiery graphics, Inferno Fortune InstaStrike is perfect for any player seeking a high-stakes thrill. Step into the fire and feel the InstaStrike spark!”
The post Booming Games launches Inferno Fortune InstaStrike slot appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Betty Tűndik Co-Founder at HIPTHER
HIPTHER Appoints Elena Stepanyatova as Event Content & Production Manager
HIPTHER strengthens its growing international events portfolio with the appointment of an experienced leader in content strategy, production, and large-scale event execution.
HIPTHER is pleased to announce the appointment of Elena Stepanyatova as Event Content & Production Manager, joining the team during an exciting period of expansion across Europe and beyond.
With more than 20 years of leadership experience spanning executive management, sales development, business growth, and premium event organization, Elena brings a powerful combination of strategic vision and operational excellence to the HIPTHER ecosystem.
Throughout her career, Elena has successfully launched and scaled new ventures, managed teams of up to 60 professionals, negotiated with government institutions and VIP stakeholders, and overseen high-profile events for audiences of up to 2,500 attendees.
Most recently, as Partner & Executive Director of LLC “MAP,” she played a central role in building and managing an event management company from the ground up, leading recruitment, business development, event concept creation, and commercial strategy. She also directed international business tours for Russian-speaking entrepreneurs to destinations including the United States, South Korea, and Japan.
At HIPTHER, Elena’s responsibilities will include agenda development, speaker and moderator coordination, event content planning, production workflows, and enhancing the attendee experience across the company’s growing portfolio of conferences and summits.
Her first major assignment is already underway: helping shape and implement the agenda for HIPTHER BALTICS: Riga 2026, the next stop in HIPTHER’s expanding Baltics series.
Zoltán Tűndik, Co-Founder and Head of Business at HIPTHER, commented: “Elena joins us with exactly the kind of energy, experience, and execution mindset we value. Great events are built long before the doors open, and her ability to combine business acumen with production precision makes her a major addition to our team.”
Betty Tűndik, Co-Founder at HIPTHER, added: “Finding the right person for this role was not an easy decision. We spoke with several highly experienced professionals and went through a deep selection process, because this position requires much more than event knowledge alone. From our first conversations with Elena, and later when we met in Prague, it became clear that she understands not only events, content, and production, but also people.
Human understanding is incredibly important in our industry. Elena brings professionalism, intuition, structure, and a strong sense of psychology to the way she works. I am truly impressed by her experience and by the way she connects ideas, teams, speakers, and communities. We believe she is a perfect fit for HIPTHER, and we are excited to welcome her into our team.”
Elena Stepanyatova added:“When I first met Zoltán and Betty during the interview, I immediately thought that this was a place where I wanted to work — I liked it, and I liked them as people. When we met in Prague, I felt it was a true match. We share the same goals and values, not only in our work but also in life.
It is truly special when professional ambitions are fueled by team spirit. I am very happy to be a member of the HIPTHER team, and I believe I can bring something new and meaningful to it. Together, we will keep moving toward the stars and reaching the heights that inspire us.”
As HIPTHER continues to expand its footprint across gaming, fintech, technology, compliance, and innovation sectors, Elena’s appointment marks another important step in scaling world-class event delivery across multiple markets.
The post HIPTHER Appoints Elena Stepanyatova as Event Content & Production Manager appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
BAR 1
BETER joins forces with BAR 1 Betting
BETER, the award-winning provider of live streams, real-time data, and odds for fast-paced esports and sports, has partnered with BAR 1 Betting, the leading Irish sportsbook, further strengthening its roster of tier-one operator partners.
Under the terms of the agreement, Irish bettors now have access to BETER’s exclusive ESportsBattle content, with eFootball and eBasketball the first disciplines to be integrated into the BAR 1 platform.
Founded in 1995 as a family-run business operating from a brick-and-mortar shop in Dundalk, County Louth, BAR 1 Betting has since expanded its operations across Ireland, establishing a strong market presence. In 2018, the company launched its online platform, BAR1betting.com, offering a range of betting markets, odds, and promotions.
As the industry’s leading provider of fast-paced betting content, BETER delivers over 500,000 events annually through its ESportsBattle tournaments, covering eFootball, eBasketball, eHockey, and eTennis, while offering up to 50 markets, with an average operator margin of 7.5%+.
BETER’s trading team also powers its Esports Odds Feed, delivering market-leading odds with the highest uptime across more than 450 tournaments globally. The offering covers over 40,000 pre-match and live events annually.
Gal Ehrlich, CEO of BETER, said: “As the leading provider of live streams, live data, and odds for the betting industry, we’re delighted that BAR 1 Betting has chosen BETER to provide its bettors with premier eFootball and eBasketball offerings.”
“With BAR 1 being one of Ireland’s most respected and well-loved sportsbooks, this partnership allows us to bring our award-winning esports content to a wider audience across regulated markets. At the same time, we look forward to supporting BAR 1 Betting in further strengthening its position as a leader in odds, event coverage, and betting opportunities.”
Barney O’Hare, CEO of BAR 1 Betting, said: “From day one, BAR 1 Betting has been built on a customer-first philosophy. When our customers speak, we listen so when they asked for more esports content, we knew BETER was the ideal partner.
“With its reputation for innovation, extensive coverage, and reliable delivery, BETER stands out as a true leader in the esports space. By adding its eFootball and eBasketball content to our platform, we’re confident we can further enhance the online betting experience for our customers.”
The post BETER joins forces with BAR 1 Betting appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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