Sanrio has published the mid-term interim results of its 40th Sanrio Character Ranking poll, where it counted votes that arrived by May 6, 2025. It shows that Pompompurin is maintaining the first spot in the ranking, with the 2004 winner Cinnamoroll still closely trailing at second.

While the early-day initial results in April 2025 only showed the top 10, Sanrio extended the list to the top 20 for the newer interim results. The company also expanded the separate overseas country region rankings from the top 5 to the top 10. In addition, it revealed that Jewelpet newly occupies the 40th rank as a special highlight of the 40th poll.

Here are the top 20 ranked characters, as revealed in the interim results:

1. Pompompurin
2. Cinnamoroll
3. Pochacco
4. Kuromi
5. Hello Kitty
6. My Melody
7. Hangyodon
8. Little Twin Stars
9. Hanamaru Obake
10. Ahiru no Pekkle
11. Tuxedosam
12. Bad Badtz-maru
13. Cogimyun
14. Kerokerokeroppi
15. Wish Me Well
16. U-sa-ha-na
17. My Sweet Piano
18. Gudetama
19. Gaopowerroo
20. Chococat

Pompompurin retaining the top spot in the mid-term interim results for the ranking is already a feat by itself. In the 2024 poll, Pochacco initially led the group, but Cinnamoroll overtook him in the interim results.

Sanrio will announce the final results of the poll on June 29, 2025. The company had also revealed on social media that it will hold a physical public viewing event for the final announcement at the Hello Kitty Show Box on Hyogo Prefecture's Awaji Island.

The 40th Sanrio Character Ranking poll in 2025 is available worldwide until May 25, 2025.

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Sanrio has published the initial interim results from the Sanrio Character Ranking 2025 poll, and it shows that Pompompurin is temporarily leading the pack. The company counted the votes between the poll's launch on April 10, 2025, and Sunday, April 13, 2025.

People residing outside Japan can view the results via the official English website. It also includes an Overseas Country Region Ranking page that shows the top 5 results in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, the US, Brazil, the UK, Italy, , , Spain, Australia, Singapore, and Thailand.

Here are the top ten leaders in the initial interim results of the Sanrio Character Ranking 2025:

1. Pompompurin
2. Cinnamoroll
3. Pochacco
4. Kuromi
5. Hello Kitty
6. My Melody
7. Hangyodon
8. Hanamaru Obake
9. Little Twin Stars
10. Tuxedosam

In addition, Sanrio revealed that Yoshikitty—based on the X Japan musician Yoshiki—is occupying 40th place in the initial results. The company puts an emphasis on this position since the 2025 edition is the 40th time the annual poll is being held.

Even though Pompompurin is leading the initial run in the 2025 poll, his fans must keep a close eye on Cinnamoroll, who trails closely at second place. The latter stood in the same position in the 2024 poll's initial results, and he eventually overtook Pochacco in the mid-term interim results. Cinnamoroll won the 2024 poll and extended his streak to five consecutive wins since 2020.

The 40th Sanrio Character Ranking poll will close on Sunday, May 25, 2025. Sanrio will announce the mid-term interim results on May 13, 2025, and the final results on June 29, 2025.

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Capcom has confirmed the release date for Elena, the fourth and last Year 2 DLC character for Street Fighter 6. Players of the fighting game will be able to play as her on June 5, 2025.

Elena made her debut in the 1997 entry Street Fighter III: New Generation. The Kenyan Capoeira master also subsequently appeared in Ultra Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter x Tekken. However, she was completely missing in Street Fighter V's playable roster. This means she will make her return after being absent for a while.

Here is the official teaser trailer for Elena in Street Fighter 6:

The second year of Street Fighter 6's post-release content additions will conclude with Elena. Capcom started the year by releasing the resurrected dictator M. Bison in June 2024. It then brought in SNK guest characters Terry Bogard in September 2024 and Mai Shiranui in February 2025.

Elena will be available as a DLC character in the console and PC releases of Street Fighter 6 on June 5, 2025. Capcom will also release Street Fighter 6: Years 1-2 Fighters Edition, which includes all eight DLC characters known so far, for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC on the same day.

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SNK has revealed Hokutomaru as a playable character in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. The disciple who trained under Andy Bogard and Mai Shiranui will not only make his return from Garou: Mark of the Wolves; he will also complete the launch roster for the fighting game.

SNK has also ed the Hokutomaru trailer in two language versions. The first one confirms Junya Enoki as the character's new Japanese voice actor. The voice actor change from Junko Takeuchi will show how Hokutomaru has grown up over two in-universe years since his debut in Garou: Mark of the Wolves, where he was 14 years old.

The other trailer showcases the English voiceover mode, where the same character is voiced by Caleb Yen:

Previously, during the Tokyo Game Show 2024, SNK announced that City of the Wolves would have 17 playable characters at launch. With the newest addition of Hokutomaru, the character list on the new Fatal Fury game's official website has also reached that number. The launch roster will also include two guest characters based on real-world celebrities: the soccer/football player Cristiano Ronaldo and the DJ Salvatore Ganacci.

Here is the full launch roster for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves:

1. Rock Howard
2. Terry Bogard
3. B. Jenet
4. Marco Rodrigues
5. Preecha
6. Hotaru Futaba
7. Vox Reaper
8. Tizoc a.k.a. Griffon Mask
9. Kevin Rian
10. Billy Kane
11. Mai Shiranui
12. Kim Dong Hwan
13. Gato
14. Kain R. Heinlein
15. Cristiano Ronaldo
16. Salvatore Ganacci
17. Hokutomaru

The game's overall roster will eventually increase from 17 to 22. SNK will gradually add Andy Bogard, Ken Masters, Joe Higashi, Chun-Li, and Mr. Big as post-launch DLC characters. Players can also purchase the first Season to guarantee access to the extra characters as soon as they are available.

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will be available worldwide for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on April 24, 2025.

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Capcom's Yuya Tokuda published a public letter detailing planned future updates for Monster Hunter Wilds. The game's director also noted that the update patches for Monster Hunter Wilds will include gameplay balance adjustments that buff the Hammer and nerf the Corrupted Mantle, among others.

The first major title update, which primarily adds quests against Mizutsune and Zoh Shia on April 4, 2025, will also come with a balance update that nerfs the effects of the Corrupted Mantle. This item can increase the players' attack power and weapon affinity in exchange for a gradual health drain while being worn. Capcom will, in return, buff the effects for other Mantles in the same update. It will also simultaneously bring a stability update that reduces VRAM usage for the PC version.

Another balancing update in the future will focus on the weapons. While Capcom is considering buffing the Hammer, it will also scrutinize other weapons available in Monster Hunter Wilds and may add some nerf adjustments if they are too overpowered. The company is still contemplating whether to release the weapon balance update in the version 1.011 update in late May 2025 or the second major title update that adds the Lagiacrus in Summer 2025.

Yuya Tokuda published the director letter shortly after Capcom announced that it had sold over 10 million units of Monster Hunter Wilds. The company previously recorded 8 million units—including all pre-orders—sold during the game's launch weekend from February 28, 2025, to March 2, 2025. That means it took a month to add 2 million more units and round up the milestone.

Monster Hunter Wilds is readily available worldwide on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC. The first major title update is slated to appear on Friday, April 4, 2025.

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Atlus announced that it established the Atlus Game Music channel on YouTube. The new channel will help further complement the website and social media for the same brand. The company will gradually publish videos based on its games' music tracks on the channel while curating soundtracks that have been made available on the YouTube Music platform. Things start with Persona 3 Reload.

The first video ed directly on the channel lets people listen to the A-side of the Persona 3 Reload Megamix Soundtrack vinyl. The two-sided vinyl record will be available on April 10, 2025, via iam8bit at $29.99.

The channel's home page also features lists that curate digital video game soundtracks available on YouTube Music. The primary categories feature Atlus' current big three franchises, which are Shin Megami Tensei, Persona, and Studio Zero's Metaphor: ReFantazio.

However, additional focus should be given to the "Other Titles" category that appears at the bottom of the page. This list features not only Shin Megami Tensei spin-off titles like Devil Survivor and Soul Hackers. It also includes soundtracks from Atlus' smaller titles like Princess Crown and Last Bible. In addition, the list has albums from games made by Sting, such as Yggdra Union, Knights in the Nightmare, and Riviera: The Promised Land.

The Atlus Game Music channel is now available worldwide on YouTube.

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Bandai Spirits revealed via Tamashii Nations that it will produce and sell a new SH Figuarts action figure modeled after Ochaco Uraraka from the My Hero Academia anime and manga. She will be the fourth character from the franchise to the action figure line.

The initial reveal is still very fresh and bare-bones, as the company has yet to announce the new action figure's pricing and release window. Bandai Spirits also teased that there will be more option parts available for Ochaco. However, it has so far only published a sample image of the character's action figure without any additional parts.

The official reveal tweet is available to view right below:

The My Hero Academia SH Figuarts lineup formally launched in late December 2024 with the release of Izuku "Deku" Midoriya's action figure. Bandai Spirits will soon release Katsuki "Kacchan" Bakugo's figure on March 29, 2025. Shoto Todoroki will be the third character ing the lineup in May 2025. Bandai Spirits noted on the website that the first three action figures are all set to appear worldwide, so it is highly likely that Ochaco's figure will follow suit as well.

The SH Figuarts action figures will add more entries to the list of figure lines that have featured My Hero Academia characters. Prior examples include Nendoroids from Good Smile Company and Spiritale figures from Taito.

The My Hero Academia Ochaco Uraraka SH Figuarts is under production. Bandai Spirits will announce the release window for the new action figure at a later time.

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SNK revealed way ahead of April Fools' Day 2025 that it will formally add Cristiano Ronaldo as a playable character in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves at launch. This means players of the fighting game will be able to have the famous soccer/football player duke it out with the likes of Terry Bogard, Mai Shiranui, and Billy Kane.

Even though Cristiano Ronaldo is also known to be proficient in English, the athlete will not voice his own character in this fighting game. Juan Felipe Sierra will instead become the voice actor who provides the English voiceovers for the character, as shown in the new official trailer below:

City of the Wolves will have an option to toggle the voiceover languages between English and Japanese, and that means a Japanese dub for CR7 will also be available. SNK has simultaneously ed the Japanese version of the trailer, which features voiceovers by Masaaki Mizunaka:

As a side note, investment from Saudi Arabia to SNK may have played a major role in this addition. The Electronic Gaming Development Company under the Saudi MiSK Foundation notably acquired a majority of SNK's shares in the early 2020s. As of 2025, Cristiano Ronaldo is playing for the Al Nassr club in the Roshn Saudi Pro League.

Cristiano Ronaldo will not be the only guest character appearing in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. SNK revealed at Tokyo Game Show 2024 that it will also bring Ken and Chun-Li from Street Fighter 6 via the first Season , which will gradually add new playable characters throughout 2025.

SNK will release Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC simultaneously worldwide on April 24, 2025.

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Arc System Works has released Venom as a new DLC character for Guilty Gear Strive. Although the character's release was delayed from the initial window at the beginning of 2025, the company kept its subsequent promise of releasing him within March 2025.

The company's official site indicates that Venom is so far available on the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC versions of the fighting game. While Queen Dizzy appeared later on the Switch and arcade versions for free, Switch version players will have to prepare additional funds to unlock Venom. The Japanese webpage confirms that Venom will only be available as a paid DLC character, along with the next two anime-based Season 4 characters: Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers' Unika and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' Lucy.

Arc System Works has also published multiple trailers related to the character on its YouTube channel. The first one is the character showcase trailer with Japanese voiceovers by Junichi Suwabe:

The next trailer is a close copy of the above, but it instead features English voiceovers by Howard Wang:

Arc System Works also ed a Starter Guide video that explains Venom's move list. As shown in the above showcase trailers, a partial Robo-Ky will also make cameo appearances in several attacks.

The fourth and final new trailer lets people listen to Venom's theme song, "A Tenth of Myself." This song also features vocals by NAOKI.

Venom is now available as a DLC character for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC releases of Guilty Gear Strive. The same character will appear later in the Nintendo Switch and Arcade versions of the fighting game.

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Arc System Works has revealed Double Dragon Dodgeball as a new spin-off game for the long-running beat 'em up game series. The company added that it will release this game as an exclusive bonus for all pre-orders of Double Dragon Revive.

This bonus game will be available with 16-bit style graphics, and it will play similarly to the Dodge Ball video games that are part of the Kunio / River City series. The game will also have three available game modes.

The first one will be Story Mode, where the player will follow the Lee brothers in their journey to rescue the kidnapped Marian just like in the original belt-scrolling action games. There will also be a Versus mode, where players can choose from 56 playable characters. The third and last mode will be Survival mode, which can also multiplayer with up to four players.

Arc System Works has also ed an official introduction trailer for Double Dragon Dodgeball on its YouTube channel:

Double Dragon Revive will be available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on October 23, 2025. People who have pre-ordered the game will also be able to get Double Dragon Dodgeball as an exclusive bonus.

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Pocketpair has published the results of the Palworld global popularity poll. Zoe won the overall poll, and the company will make her a recruitable ally character in a future update patch for Palworld.

The company launched the poll worldwide in late January 2025. It let people vote for any Pals and faction leader characters who have appeared in the game. There was also a secondary poll where participants had to narrow down their votes to three.

Zoe won the initial overall ranking with 31,535 votes. Meanwhile, Chillet, Jetragon, and Anubis comprise the top three list of the secondary poll, which has since been named the Favorite Pal Ranking. Pocketpair will also mark the results by releasing commemorative skins for all three winning Pals.

Zoe is not the only human character to make an impact in this Palworld poll. Saya and Lily rounded up the top three of the overall ranking, and they also made their way to the top ten list of the Favorite Pal ranking. But despite these achievements, it still remains to be seen whether Saya and Lily will also be made into recruitable allies in future updates or not.

Palworld is readily available worldwide on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Mac. Pocketpair has also released an update patch that enables crossplay on all aforementioned platforms.

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SNK announced that it will hold the second open beta test for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves in late March 2025. Players all over the world can get another opportunity to try out the new Fatal Fury fighting game for free with nine playable characters, including Tizoc, in four available stages.

The new open beta test will launch worldwide on March 27, 2025, with exceptions for Mountain, Pacific, and further western time zones that will see the beta go live on March 26, 2025, at 11 PM MDT or 10 PM PDT. Those in the Eastern US time zone can access the beta test from March 27, 2025, at 1 AM until March 31, 2025, at 4 AM.

For the record, SNK held the first open beta test on February 20-25, 2025. It featured eight playable characters: Rock Howard, Terry Bogard, Hotaru Futaba, Mai Shiranui, B. Jenet, Preecha, Vox Reaper, and Kain R. Heinlein. The second open beta will have the addition of Tizoc, the Fatal Fury series recurring wrestler who is also known in the Japanese release as the Griffon Mask.

The second open beta test for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will run on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC worldwide on March 27-31, 2025. SNK will release the full game on all aforementioned platforms the following month on April 24, 2025.

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Cover revealed during the Hololive 6th Fes concert that it is working on the first-ever official Hololive mobile rhythm game. It is currently known by the project code Dreams, and the company plans to release the game simultaneously worldwide. However, there will be a few regional exceptions, though we don't know what those are yet.

Nothing much else was announced during the reveal. However, Cover added a major clue that this mobile game will let players "enjoy Hololive songs." That line makes this mobile game very likely to become a rhythm game featuring original songs performed by the group's Japanese, Indonesian, and English Vtubers.

The official teaser trailer is available to watch right below:

Cover also published a new Holo no Grafitti episode that covered the new mobile game announcement on YouTube. However, this video mostly contains the group Vtubers' own predictions about the game.

Original songs performed by Hololive Vtubers have frequently been added to other established rhythm games, such as Taito's Groove Coaster and Konami's Jubeat and Sound Voltex. Dreams will thus be the first game to have an exclusive focus on Hololive Vtuber songs.

The official Hololive rhythm game for mobile devices is still under development with the project code Dreams. Cover will reveal more details about the mobile game, including its full title and worldwide release window, at a later time.

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Gemdrops revealed details about Hololive Holo's Hanafuda, including its release date, at the Hololive Super Expo 2025. The company will release the Vtuber-themed Hanafuda card game for the Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC on July 31, 2025.

This game will let people play the Japanese traditional Hanafuda card games with Hololive Vtubers as their avatars. While the regular rules like Koi-Koi, Oicho-Kabu, and Hana-Awase are available, Gemdrops will also add Holo-Awase as a brand-new Hololive-themed rule. Players can then use the points collected from the main gameplay mode to cook and design bento meal boxes.

The online mode for this game will cross-platform matchmaking for up to four players. The game will not only the Japanese and English language options, but also French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Indonesian, Korean, and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified).

Gemdrops has also ed a new trailer showcasing Hololive Holo's Hanafuda on its YouTube channel:

As indicated by the above trailer, Nintendo Switch will be the primary platform for this game. It will be the only console to have physical releases. While the regular physical package will cost 5,280 yen (~$35.95), Gemdrops will also sell a limited edition package at 16,500 yen (~$112.45) that come with a set of Hanafuda cards actually made by Nintendo. The package will also include a soundtrack CD, an art book, a wrapping cloth, a mini folding screen, and a set of bento stickers.

Hololive Holo's Hanafuda will be available worldwide for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam on July 31, 2025.

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Capcom has launched a new crossover event that adds content based on Sanrio characters like Cinnamoroll in Monster Hunter Puzzles: Felyne Isles. This crossover appears not only in Japan but also in all other regions where the mobile game is available, as Capcom also revealed the content on the game's official English Facebook .

This event will consist of multiple waves. The first wave that has become immediately available lets people earn Cinnamoroll-themed items like a T-shirt, a bag, and a house. Players of the mobile game have until Sunday, March 16, 2025, at 7 PM PDT to obtain these items.

The Japanese press release also revealed a second wave that will reward a Pompompurin T-shirt as a frequent daily bonus item between March 18 and 29, 2025, in Asian time zones. Capcom also teased that there will be even more new Sanrio crossover content appearing in April 2025 as well.

This is not the first time Capcom holds a Sanrio crossover event in Monster Hunter Puzzles, though. The company had previously held a similar event rewarding Hello Kitty-themed items. That event had already concluded in late November 2024.

The Sanrio Characters crossover event in the iOS and Android mobile game Monster Hunter Puzzles: Felyne Isles is available worldwide for a limited time throughout March and April 2025.

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