A study by NetCredit estimates the net worth of twelve iconic video game characters. Mario tops the list with a whopping $ 805 billion.
Although his official profession is that of a humble plumber, he is a video game icon MarioThe company’s net worth is over $ 805 billion. The shocking reveal comes from a recent study by the NetCredit website that ranks twelve popular video game characters in terms of their accumulated wealth in real terms.
Before we discuss the results in detail, it is important to always go through the clever method that is used to arrive at such bold conclusions about popular video game characters and their finances. NetCredit first made a list of twelve iconic characters ranging from Mario to Geralt of Rivia, and added the currency caps of each character’s respective games in which he appears as the main character. A USD exchange rate was determined for each currency by simply comparing the cost of a real-world item from each game to its real value in dollars. For example, since a grenade launcher in Banjo-Kazooie costs fifty musical notes and is $ 1,000 in real life, a musical note must cost around $ 20.
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By multiplying the total amount of currency each character could theoretically accumulate on their respective trips by the corresponding dollar value of each currency, NetCredit’s Barbara Davidson created the Video Game Character Rich List (reported by Goomba Stomp). Topping the list is the most popular video game character of all time, Mario, whose net worth is over $ 800 billion. Davidson concluded that one coin is worth $ 80,000 because an extra life is valued at 100 coins, while “the insurance industry values a human life at about $ 8 million”. The dynamic duo of Ratchet and Clank ranks second at nearly $ 468 million for having amassed over 700 million metal screws valued at $ 0.65 each in a hardware store. The full list can be viewed below (image courtesy of NetCredit):
Commander Shepard rounds out the top 3 richest video game characters surveyed. A model ship costs 500 credits in Mass Effect, which means one credit is worth about $ 0.16. Donkey Kong fans will be sad to know that his net worth is only $ 286. Since a banana juice costs twenty Banana Coins in the world of Donkey Kong, a Banana Coin is valued at just $ 0.09. Also worth mentioning in Davidson’s study: Coins from Mario’s universe are the most valuable currency, Pokémon dollars are the least valuable currency and New Super Mario Bros. 2 is the most profitable game of all the titles examined.
The study isn’t exactly a rigorous scientific analysis, but it’s still a fun, interesting, and methodical way to hypothetically compare the relative wealth of some of the most famous and beloved video game characters. It’s also nice to know that while Mario is probably rich enough to buy the entire Mushroom Kingdom at this point and retire in style, Mario still loves to do enough plumbing to wake up every day and do it for free .
Source: NetCredit, Goomba Stomp
About the author
Caleb Greer
(40 published articles)
Caleb Greer is a freelance gaming news writer for Screen Rant and co-host of The X-Block Podcast, a weekly podcast all about the Xbox. Before writing for Screen Rant, Caleb wrote gaming news for TrueAchievements.com while he was completing his bachelor’s degree in history. Caleb recently completed his Masters in History while working for AmeriCorps solving problems in his community. Caleb has been a lifelong hunter of achievement on Xbox, but his gaming knowledge and experience extends well beyond Microsoft’s ecosystem. If he’s not texting, he’s probably playing Halo or watching Dragon Ball Z. You can find him on Twitter @XBlockCaleb.
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