The number of “Virtual YouTuber (VTuber)” who communicate with their viewers through virtual avatars is increasing. Perhaps many people are wondering how to start actual broadcasting. Therefore, Hummit has prepared a series of <Guidelines for People Who want to be a VTuber>.
Firstly, we would like to talk about what a VTuber is, what the prospects of the VTuber market are, and two key factors for determining the concept of the character.
A VTuber is an abbreviation for “Virtual YouTuber.” VTuber is an online entertainer who uses a virtual avatar generated using computer graphics. Real-time motion capture software or technology are often – but not always – used to capture movement. Although the term is an allusion to the video platform YouTube, they also use websites such as Niconico, Twitch, Facebook, Twitter, and Bilibili.
The VTuber’s character can be created with inspiration from famous people in the real world or from cartoon characters. However, due to the unique nature of the virtual world, they are also created freely without resctriction. One of the representative VTuber is Kizuna AI from Japan. The term “VTuber ” was first coined by Kizuna AI when she explained her identity.
Due to the restrictions on external activities caused by COVID-19 in early 2020, the vlogger market grew rapidly worldwide, and the trend of explosive growth in viewership and transition to the mainstream continues. According to a report by User Local in Japan, as of November 2022, there are more than 20,000 streamers active as VTubers.
2. Market size and outlook for VTuber
The Vtuber market is expected to grow rapidly over the next five years. According to Market Growth Reports, the global VTuber market reached a stable growth of $218.83 million in 2022. The market is expected to continue to grow rapidly, led by key players, and reach a size of $1.326 billion by 2028, with an annual growth rate of a whopping 35.03%.
The broader concept of “digital humans,” meaning “humans implemented in digital media,” is also expected to grow in market size. According to Emergen Research, the digital human avatar market, which was worth $100 trillion in 2020, is expected to reach around $5.2 quadrillion by 2030. Among them, the revenue from interactive digital human avatars is expected to have the highest growth rate.
When deciding on a concept for a YouTuber, there are two main factors that the creator can consider:
1) Role-Playing (RP): The degree to which the creator portrays a different persona.
2) Exposure of an Actor’s info: The extent to which the creator’s personal information is revealed.
In the past, many VTubers concealed their real and actual personality and played different personas. However, recently, there has been a trend towards trying various methods considering the targeted audience and the contents. Nowadays, some Vtubers reveal part of their real selves and freely broadcast depending on their concept and situation.
There are three main categories depending on the degree of role-playing and exposure of an actors’ info, and we will take a look at some real examples of VTubers.
VTubers with the traditional concept of hiding their identity while acting as a specific character belong to this area. In this case, the character concept can be set freely without any limits, allowing for the incorporation of various dramatic elements that match the world of the character. However, for beginners or the general public who are not familiar with VTubers, this concept may seem somewhat confusing, making it difficult to enter. It should also be noted that because streamers need to immerse themselves in their personas, the difficulty level of acting is high.
Most of Nijisanji’s VTubers can be considered as belonging to this category. Each character has a detailed profile, including their way of speaking, personality, age, birthday, occupation, and even favorite foods or body measurements. The clothing, props, and items that the character wears are designed with great attention to detail. In the following examples, we can see that even the character’s hair, clothing, and residency documents are carefully planned down to the smallest detail.
Recently, many VTubers have engaged in role-playing to a certain extent, but for the most part, they freely reveal their actual personality depending on the situation. This reduces the burden on streamers as they don’t have to fully immerse themselves in their character’s persona.
A prime example of this is Gawr Gura, who has 4.31 million YouTube subscribers on a single channel as of April 2023, making her the most subscribed VTuber in the world. She has a concept of being a descendant of Atlantis who likes to talk to marine creatures. However, during her streams, she actively uses popular memes and offers relationship advice to viewers, portraying a friendly and approachable image. Additionally, she sometimes collaborates with other VTubers that breaks away from the conventional image of VTubers.
There are cases where existing celebrities or broadcasters start off as VTubers. It can be a useful tool for expanding their activity area horizontally with a new character.
For example, the Korean voice actor, YuRi Seo, immerses herself in the character of Lona Lona Ddang, a high school student who wants to be an idol. She acts out the character skillfully. However, viewers already know that the real identity of Lona Lona Ddang is YuRi Seo. So, the viewers intentionally tease her to disrupt the actor’s immersion in the character. YuRi Seo tries to ignore this and continues to act with determination. However, sometimes she becomes self-aware while acting as the character and bursts out into awkward laughter. This situation where the actor breaks character and experiences a sort of cringe can be one of the fun elements of the broadcast.
C) No Role Playing + (Optionally) Exposure of Actor’s info
There are also cases where VTubers use a virtual avatar without role-playing. It is not much different from a general live broadcast except for the use of an virtual avatar. They do not set a specific concept for the character’s personality. One advantage is that the barrier to entry is relatively low, as they avoid excessive concepts or worldviews that general viewers may find off-putting. However, since it is a common concept that YouTubers need to show a new character and worldview, there are also people who do not consider them as YouTubers if they do not do role-playing.
4. Strengths and weakness as a VTuber
The strengths and weaknesses of being a VTuber compared to regular streaming can be summarized as follows:
VTuber
Regular Streamer
Strengths
*No pressure about revealing face *Real-time facial expressions can be expressed compared to 2D characters *The potential for expanding to other businesses is high by owning and utilizing the character’s IP. *No limits on concept setting
*Lower barrier of entry for viewers *Capable of offline activities and content production *Lower initial costs compared to being a YouTuber
Weakness
*High entry barriers for viewers *Initial costs may be incurred (3D character production, motion tracking equipment, etc.) *There are limitations to offline activities and content.
*Potential reluctance to show one’s face on camera *Lower potential for expansion into other businesses compared to being a VTuber *Limitations on content expansion (such as utilization of virtual or augmented reality or setting up a unique world)
5. Conclusion
With the increasing influence of smartphones, social media, and influencers, the VTuber market is expected to continue to grow. The key feature of VTubers is their ability to surpass limits with unexpected characters or concepts. Therefore, determining what character concept to set and planning content is considered one of the important factors for success. Especially when companies attempt to use VTubers for branding , we recommend setting the details of the character, such as design, personality, voice, and behavior, in a way that suits the brand image.
Generally, many people think that to become a VTuber, they need expertise in difficult programs and equipment. However, with the recent popularity of VTubers, there has been a trend towards easily accessible equipment and technology. In the next article, we will introduce the technology and programs that VTubers use.
The number of “Virtual YouTuber (VTuber)” who communicate with their viewers through virtual avatars is increasing. Perhaps many people are wondering how to start actual broadcasting. Therefore, Hummit has prepared a series of <Guidelines for People Who want to be a VTuber>.
Firstly, we would like to talk about what a VTuber is, what the prospects of the VTuber market are, and two key factors for determining the concept of the character.
1. What is a VTuber?
A VTuber is an abbreviation for “Virtual YouTuber.” VTuber is an online entertainer who uses a virtual avatar generated using computer graphics. Real-time motion capture software or technology are often – but not always – used to capture movement. Although the term is an allusion to the video platform YouTube, they also use websites such as Niconico, Twitch, Facebook, Twitter, and Bilibili.
The VTuber’s character can be created with inspiration from famous people in the real world or from cartoon characters. However, due to the unique nature of the virtual world, they are also created freely without resctriction. One of the representative VTuber is Kizuna AI from Japan. The term “VTuber ” was first coined by Kizuna AI when she explained her identity.
Due to the restrictions on external activities caused by COVID-19 in early 2020, the vlogger market grew rapidly worldwide, and the trend of explosive growth in viewership and transition to the mainstream continues. According to a report by User Local in Japan, as of November 2022, there are more than 20,000 streamers active as VTubers.
2. Market size and outlook for VTuber
The Vtuber market is expected to grow rapidly over the next five years. According to Market Growth Reports, the global VTuber market reached a stable growth of $218.83 million in 2022. The market is expected to continue to grow rapidly, led by key players, and reach a size of $1.326 billion by 2028, with an annual growth rate of a whopping 35.03%.
The broader concept of “digital humans,” meaning “humans implemented in digital media,” is also expected to grow in market size. According to Emergen Research, the digital human avatar market, which was worth $100 trillion in 2020, is expected to reach around $5.2 quadrillion by 2030. Among them, the revenue from interactive digital human avatars is expected to have the highest growth rate.
3. Key elements for setting VTuber concept
When deciding on a concept for a YouTuber, there are two main factors that the creator can consider:
1) Role-Playing (RP): The degree to which the creator portrays a different persona.
2) Exposure of an Actor’s info: The extent to which the creator’s personal information is revealed.
In the past, many VTubers concealed their real and actual personality and played different personas. However, recently, there has been a trend towards trying various methods considering the targeted audience and the contents. Nowadays, some Vtubers reveal part of their real selves and freely broadcast depending on their concept and situation.
There are three main categories depending on the degree of role-playing and exposure of an actors’ info, and we will take a look at some real examples of VTubers.
A) Role Playing + Non-exposure of Actor’s info
VTubers with the traditional concept of hiding their identity while acting as a specific character belong to this area. In this case, the character concept can be set freely without any limits, allowing for the incorporation of various dramatic elements that match the world of the character. However, for beginners or the general public who are not familiar with VTubers, this concept may seem somewhat confusing, making it difficult to enter. It should also be noted that because streamers need to immerse themselves in their personas, the difficulty level of acting is high.
Most of Nijisanji’s VTubers can be considered as belonging to this category. Each character has a detailed profile, including their way of speaking, personality, age, birthday, occupation, and even favorite foods or body measurements. The clothing, props, and items that the character wears are designed with great attention to detail. In the following examples, we can see that even the character’s hair, clothing, and residency documents are carefully planned down to the smallest detail.
B) Role Playing + Exposure of Actor’s info
Recently, many VTubers have engaged in role-playing to a certain extent, but for the most part, they freely reveal their actual personality depending on the situation. This reduces the burden on streamers as they don’t have to fully immerse themselves in their character’s persona.
A prime example of this is Gawr Gura, who has 4.31 million YouTube subscribers on a single channel as of April 2023, making her the most subscribed VTuber in the world. She has a concept of being a descendant of Atlantis who likes to talk to marine creatures. However, during her streams, she actively uses popular memes and offers relationship advice to viewers, portraying a friendly and approachable image. Additionally, she sometimes collaborates with other VTubers that breaks away from the conventional image of VTubers.
There are cases where existing celebrities or broadcasters start off as VTubers. It can be a useful tool for expanding their activity area horizontally with a new character.
For example, the Korean voice actor, YuRi Seo, immerses herself in the character of Lona Lona Ddang, a high school student who wants to be an idol. She acts out the character skillfully. However, viewers already know that the real identity of Lona Lona Ddang is YuRi Seo. So, the viewers intentionally tease her to disrupt the actor’s immersion in the character. YuRi Seo tries to ignore this and continues to act with determination. However, sometimes she becomes self-aware while acting as the character and bursts out into awkward laughter. This situation where the actor breaks character and experiences a sort of cringe can be one of the fun elements of the broadcast.
C) No Role Playing + (Optionally) Exposure of Actor’s info
There are also cases where VTubers use a virtual avatar without role-playing. It is not much different from a general live broadcast except for the use of an virtual avatar. They do not set a specific concept for the character’s personality. One advantage is that the barrier to entry is relatively low, as they avoid excessive concepts or worldviews that general viewers may find off-putting. However, since it is a common concept that YouTubers need to show a new character and worldview, there are also people who do not consider them as YouTubers if they do not do role-playing.
4. Strengths and weakness as a VTuber
The strengths and weaknesses of being a VTuber compared to regular streaming can be summarized as follows:
*Real-time facial expressions can be expressed compared to 2D characters
*The potential for expanding to other businesses is high by owning and utilizing the character’s IP.
*No limits on concept setting
*Capable of offline activities and content production
*Lower initial costs compared to being a YouTuber
*Initial costs may be incurred (3D character production, motion tracking equipment, etc.)
*There are limitations to offline activities and content.
*Lower potential for expansion into other businesses compared to being a VTuber
*Limitations on content expansion (such as utilization of virtual or augmented reality or setting up a unique world)
5. Conclusion
With the increasing influence of smartphones, social media, and influencers, the VTuber market is expected to continue to grow. The key feature of VTubers is their ability to surpass limits with unexpected characters or concepts. Therefore, determining what character concept to set and planning content is considered one of the important factors for success. Especially when companies attempt to use VTubers for branding , we recommend setting the details of the character, such as design, personality, voice, and behavior, in a way that suits the brand image.
Generally, many people think that to become a VTuber, they need expertise in difficult programs and equipment. However, with the recent popularity of VTubers, there has been a trend towards easily accessible equipment and technology. In the next article, we will introduce the technology and programs that VTubers use.
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