Virtual Idol and VTubers (Virtual YouTubers) are concepts in the world of digital entertainment and content creation:
A Virtual Idol is a computer-generated or animated character designed to entertain, often resembling a human or anthropomorphic character. These virtual idols can sing, dance, and interact with audiences through concerts, live streams, and digital content.
VTubers are a subset of virtual idols who create content on platforms like YouTube and Twitch. They use animated avatars or digital characters as their on-screen personas, interacting with viewers while maintaining the persona of the virtual character.
Both virtual idols and VTubers use technology, animation, and often advanced techniques like motion capture to create lifelike characters. They engage with audiences through a wide range of content, from live chats and gameplay videos to singing performances, and have gained significant popularity, with dedicated fan followings and commercial success in various parts of the world, particularly in countries like Japan. These digital entertainers provide unique and engaging content that blurs the lines between reality and digital performance, often fostering strong online communities and fan interactions.
Virtual Idol and VTubers Market Summary
According to the new market research report “Virtual Idol and VTubers- Global Market Share and Ranking, Overall Sales and Demand Forecast 2024-2030”, published by QYResearch, the global Virtual Idol and VTubers market size is projected to reach USD 4.04 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 24.6% during the forecast period.
- Global Virtual Idol and VTubers MarketSize(US$ Million), 2018-2029
Source: QYResearch, “Virtual Idol and VTubers- Global Market Share and Ranking, Overall Sales and Demand Forecast 2024-2030”
Market Drivers:
Technological Innovation: In recent years, great progress has been made in technologies such as real-time rendering, motion capture, face recognition and character modeling, which have provided underlying support to solve the shortcomings of virtual idols in terms of appearance, movement and interaction, and have made up for the shortcomings in the development of virtual idols. Boards, coupled with the widespread application of machine learning (AI) technology, are driving the development of virtual idols into a new stage.
Cultural advancement: As the idol industry and fan culture continue to intensify, the emergence and rise of virtual idols in the digital society is inevitable.
On the one hand, with the frequent occurrence of illegal and unethical incidents of celebrity artists in reality, people’s trust in real celebrities continues to decline, and “virtual idols” may be the best substitute. In this era of focusing on “personality”, real-person idols often face the phenomenon of “personality collapse”, while virtual idols will not have negative news such as scandals and appearance changes, and they will feel more secure when cooperating with companies and fans to chase stars.
On the other hand, in a media-based society, with the help of the powerful power of modern media and all-round commercial packaging, the cultural industry creates virtual idols that are similar to real idols. They cater to the public’s needs for a specific image at a specific time and satisfy people’s expectations and fantasies. In addition, the unique UGC production method of virtual idols also gives fans different ways to get along with each other. When chasing traditional real-person idols, it is even more difficult to meet real people. However, virtual idols can use technological means to accompany fans to drink coffee, chat, etc., to meet the psychological needs of fans.
Emotional projection: Consumption behavior in contemporary society is no longer a simple “passive” procedure to meet needs, but an “active” relationship model. This kind of consumption behavior is like this between fans and virtual idols. They break the barriers of space and present them in fragmented ways in the virtual space. The audience continues to consume and imagine different fragments based on their own interests.
In this process of continuous fragmentation and modification, the textual importance of virtual idols increases, and the connection between virtual characters and audiences becomes closer. Fans feel that their relationship with virtual idols is more equal than with real celebrities. The reason why a virtual idol generates value and becomes a popular IP is that people imagine it, and it becomes real and concrete due to imagination. People’s emotional projections on it are layered, giving meaning and connecting with it.
Restraint:
Core User is fewer and the main users of virtual YouTuber are ACGN fans.
High operating costs. The production cost of 2D virtual idols is relatively low, and some are even free. The production cost of 3D virtual idols is relatively high. To make a profit through Vtuber, a lot of digital content is needed, such as videos, pictures, copywriting, etc. These costs are very high.
Difficult to be profitable in the short term. It is less than 30% of the tens of thousands of vtubers that can make profits, and is currently facing the dilemma of difficulty in making profits.
The monetization method for virtual anchors is relatively simple. As mentioned above, virtual anchors are at a disadvantage in the competition with real-life celebrity idols, so even virtual anchors from companies with more abundant resources (either launched by the company or backed by the company) appear to be “lack of imagination” in how to monetize “In addition to sharing income from live broadcast rewards, their main way to monetize is through endorsement ads and event guests. Although some heads among heads may still hold concerts and publish albums, they are still in the minority.
As each platform continues to strengthen its head virtual anchors, the Matthew effect of virtual anchor income becomes more and more obvious. Taking bilibili as an example, among the more than 30,000 virtual anchors at Station B as of May 2021, the top virtual anchors accounting for 0.3% took away more than 90% of the income. Correspondingly, more than half The monthly income of virtual anchors is 0.
Opportunity:
Infringement and piracy issues related to virtual idol content and peripherals are serious. This requires producers and operators to strengthen the copyright protection of their own IP. It also requires relevant intellectual property departments to have a clearer definition of infringement to create a good creative environment.
At this stage, virtual idols do not have legal personality and are more similar to an original virtual work produced by a producer. The rights and accountability of virtual idols will be implemented to the producer or operator behind it. In the future, with the development of science and technology, the relevant regulations of virtual idols and AI virtual idols in the metaverse scenario await further improvement.
Currently, many virtual idols on the market take technology as their core selling point and strive for excellence in appearance, sound, movements, etc. It is undeniable that technical level is one of the core values of virtual idols, and technological updates and iterations can also broaden the boundaries of virtual idols’ capabilities. However, the other core “idol” value of virtual idols does not entirely depend on technology. Starting from the idol audience, the elements that most affect the popularity of a virtual idol are similar to those of real idols, which are appearance, personality, talent content and affinity. Some existing virtual idols highlight technical highlights and lack the activity content and affinity building of the virtual idol itself, resulting in a smaller fan circle and fewer core fans, making it difficult to form an IP effect.
At this stage, many B-end brands choose to cooperate with virtual idols, because virtual idols are relatively pioneering “high-tech ICONs” and have excellent marketing value.
In the future, as technological concepts continue to upgrade and technological levels continue to improve, the core competitiveness of a virtual idol will increasingly depend on content output. Virtual idol operators will need to spend more time improving content, creating IP, and realizing added value.
Online games and online social networking are typical scenarios that are easier to get closer to the Yuanverse’s landing ecology, and virtual idols are one of the more representative elements, making it easier to expand commercially. In the metaverse scene, virtual idols can appear in virtual performances. In recent years, virtual idols and real singers have successfully held virtual concerts in the game, which have been welcomed by many players.
- Global Virtual Idol and VTubers Top15Players Ranking and Market Share（Continually updated）
Source: QYResearch, “Virtual Idol and VTubers- Global Market Share and Ranking, Overall Sales and Demand Forecast 2024-2030”
According to QYResearch Top Players Research Center, the global key manufacturers of Virtual Idol and VTubers include AnyColor (Nijisanji), Cover (Hololive), Bilibili, Virtual eSports Project, 774, inc, Re:AcT (Mikai), VShojo, iQIYI, .LIVE (Appland), Yuehua Entertainment, etc. In 2022, the global top 10 players had a share approximately 56.0% in terms of revenue.
About The Authors
| Tuo Rui – Lead Author |
| Email: tuorui@qyresearch.com |
About QYResearch
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