VTubers have slowly but surely created a space for themselves in today's online streaming space. Even though it originated in Japan, it has become a booming business worldwide that brings millions of watch hours for its exponents, with their nationalities varying from America to South Korea to Argentina.
Over the years, Streams Charts has been compiling rankings of these influencers based on different metrics, and a few names have popped up regularly. With the new month almost halfway done, who has made these top tens for August, and who has missed out? Read on to find out.
Overall, across August, VTubers on Twitch and YouTube generated 90.3M Hours Watched, a slight 10% drop compared to last month.
Most watched VTubers in August 2023
Pekora Ch is back on the summit after missing out on our previous list, thanks to collecting 2.18M Hours Watched. This number also helped her become one of the most-watched YouTube Gaming streamers for the eighth month of the year.
Next is Koyori ch, back in the top two after missing out on the podium in the June rankings. Third is 叶ちゃんねる, who saw a massive 478% rise in his monthly watch time to jump to the third spot on this leaderboard.
Kuzuha Channel, another regular on these lists, finished fourth, although he will be disappointed to miss out on the top three after two straight months within it. Finishing off the top five is 猫麦とろろ, the second of three Twitch representatives here who is also one of the few independent VTubers to make these standings.
Subaru Ch, Miko Ch, and Koseki Bijou Ch are the other three hololive members here. The last name is the only English language broadcaster from his agency to make it to this top ten list.
ironmouse, one of the most famous VTubers worldwide, especially in North America, came down to seventh after her subathon high had propelled her to the top spot in June. 社築, NIJISANJI's VTuber, rounds off these standings having himself seen a massive rise of 74% in his watch time compared to July.
Most popular VTubers in August 2023
Switching to the most popular VTubers from August, the numero uno entry is 舞元啓介, the NIJISANJI content creator. He notched 176K Peak Viewers, a rise of 182% from the previous month, while his Average Viewers number is also the most for August.
壱百満天原サロメ is second in this standing, making it a one-two for NIJISANJI, which is important as the next few entries all come from hololive. Miko Ch, Aqua Ch, Pekora Ch, Shion Ch, and Noel Ch take the third to seventh positions, reasserting their agency's reputation as perhaps the pre-eminent one in the VTubing industry.
椎名唯華 and 不破 湊 make up two of the last three spots, with the first and third names bringing NIJISANJI back into the game. GX_Aura rounds off this leaderboard, with the mascot of the Opera GX gaming browser only making her debut on August 19, which became one of the biggest Twitch female VTuber streams ever.
Most watched YouTube VTubers in August 2023
Most of the names on this list have already been mentioned on the overall list, with the two new entrants being 橘ひなの and 角巻わため, with the ninth-placed name helping Virtual eSports Project make its first appearance in this article.
Most watched YouTube VTubers in August 2023
This leaderboard is also almost the same as the overall one, with the sole new entry being フブキCh。白上フブキ, another hololive VTuber who saw the highest raise in their peak concurrent viewership number among these ten at 235%.
Most watched Twitch VTubers in August 2023
With the top three already finding places on the overall list, let's start with number four, 아야츠노_유니, an independent streamer who notched 891K HW in August. Following her is 비챤_, a South Korean part of the Parable Twitch influencers' team who is also part of the ISEGYE IDOL Korean VTuber girl-group project.
The remaining five entries consist of three more entries from South Korea — 릴파_, 고세구___, and 아이리_칸나. Two are independent streamers, while the third belongs to ISEGYE IDOL, directed and owned by Korean Twitch streamer Woowakgood.
The lone representative from the West, as is the case usually, is AdmiralBahroo, the male independent broadcaster known to play a variety of games. The last name is henyathegenius from Japan, one of VShojo's few representatives so far in this article.
Most popular Twitch VTubers in August 2023
GX_Aura is the clear leader, enjoying a massive lead of 131.25% over the next best entry, 고세구___. The Just Chatting streamer is known for her Just Chatting broadcasts, with her favorite games being from the horror and thriller genres.
Third is independent content creator JaidenAnimations, also one of the few English language names to pop up today. The last three names are 징버거, 아이네_, 주르르, a South Korean trio consisting of two from the ISEGYE IDOL group and one independent broadcaster.
Most watched VTubers agencies
Keeping the quite large number of independent VTubers aside, the most watched agency across August is hololive, which edged rival NIJISANJI by less than a percentage in the overall watch hours pie chart. Apart from Virtual eSports Project and VShojo, which have remained a distant third and fourth, a major gainer was ISEGYE IDOL, which took almost 3% of the share.
It is clear that the two industry leaders, NIJISANJI and hololive, have the most dominant VTubers worldwide, whether it is by watch time or peak online viewership. However, one trend that popped up is Twitch's slow rise in terms of having more representation in these rankings, although there is a way to go before it can truly challenge the hegemony of YouTube.
