VTubers live streaming viewership in Q1 2023 — Japanese streamers continue to lead genre into new future

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VTubers have become a large part of the streaming lexicon today, with their streams generating huge viewership numbers and helping them generate a legion of diehard fans globally. The fact that they do not physically appear in front of their followers adds to their mystique, hype, and aura.

These online personalities are some of the biggest and most popular on broadcasting platforms like Twitch and YouTube. They ensure to regularly stream, discussing various topics and interacting with viewers.

With Streams Charts now commanding a large database of the most popular VTubers across multiple live streaming services, here’s a look at the most popular such names across platforms.

Most watched VTubers during first quarter of 2023

Most Watched VTubers in the world — Q1 2023 (YouTube stats based on gaming & non-gaming streams)

As has been the case with most such lists, Pekora Ch (7.19M Hours Watched) remains the most-watched VTuber in the world, perhaps because she may also be the most popular such name globally. She is signed with YouTube and is part of hololive — a Japanese Virtual YouTuber agency — as the third generation of VTubers that debuted in 2019. The Japanese variety streamer plays lots of games with other VTubers, which only adds to the entertainment factor of her streams.

Kuzuha Channel comes in second with 6.94M HW, a male Japanese Virtual YouTuber and a member of NIJISANJI. He is currently the most watched and the most subscribed male VTuber worldwide. The Japanese became an official partner of PUBG Japan in 2018 and appeared in the March 2022 issue of the VTuber Style Magazine.

In the third spot is another regular on such lists, Koyori Ch (5.54M HW), who also belongs to hololive’s gang of VTubers, this time from its sixth generation that debuted in 2021. She also has dabbled in games like Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Minecraft, apart from being excellent at chatting with her viewers. The Japanese online personality is known to host singing streams, of which quite a few have been dedicated to only singing anime songs.

Miko Ch, the hololive Generation 0 debutant, is fourth with 4.69M HW and actually first appeared outside of any generation, working under COVER Corp directly before getting moved to hololive. She is popular for her karaoke, ASMR, and English learning streams, apart from being an avid anime and manga fan. The Japanese VTuber has also played various games, including Jump King, PIEN, PEC-MEN, Emily Wants To Play, Blazing Sails, and NieR:Automata.

Rounding off the top five is Subaru Ch,  who debuted as part of Hololive's second generation of VTubers in 2018, with 4.03M HW. She also started off by playing numerous video games like Monster Hunter Rise, Rocketman, Granblue Fantasy, Project Zero, The Legend of Zelda, and Fall Guys. The Japanese internet star is also known for her ASMR broadcasts, apart from hosting chatting streams and releasing music covers of various songs.

Three of the next five in this top ten list also belong to hololive, proving their dominance in this genre and that it is the biggest Virtual YouTuber agency worldwide. These names — Watame Ch, Kanata Ch, and Korone Ch — are pretty influential in their own rights and have contributed massively to how far their employer has come.

Ironmouse continues to defy expectations by being the flagbearer for Western VTubers and one of the most followed names in this genre. Closing the list is 渋谷ハル, also known as Haru Shibuya, who belongs to the VTuber office Neo-Porte. His central content comes from commentary on games, especially FPS games like Apex Legends and PUBG.

Most popular VTubers during first quarter of 2023

  Top ten VTubers based on concurrent viewership across platforms   

Pekora Ch again comes out on top in this metric with 174K Peak Viewers, 14K more than the second-placed Suisei Channel, who also belongs to hololive as part of its Generation 0. She was initially an independent VTuber before moving to the mega-money agency, making her name in 2018 via numerous song covers highlighting her modest voice. The Japanese streamer has also played games like Project Winter, Cooking Fever, Animal Crossing, UnderTale, Minecraft, and Tetris.

Third is the official YouTube channel of hololive — which has over 50 million subscribers after combining all VTubers under its name — with 142K PV. The company was created by Motoaki "YAGOO" Tanigo in 2016 as VR software before realizing it could produce virtual avatars thanks to the advancement in technology. Hence, the organization decided to create a VTuber agency, whose first talent, Sora Tokino, debuted a while later.

Next comes 渋谷ハル, the last name before the list gets filled up by hololive VTubers once again and another entrant in both lists. He and Miko Ch are joint fourth, having registered 138K PV each, although the latter’s Airtime was 300% lesser.

The last five names in this top ten are all from hololive, as Towa Ch, Marine Ch, Shion Ch, Subaru Ch, and Okayu Ch, notched between 113K PV and 82K PV. Each of these personalities has enthralled audiences with their gaming and chatting content, and judging by their placings on this list, their popularity has only grown.

Viewership break up in detail

  How the platforms performed over the first quarter   

Unsurprisingly, Twitch and YouTube monopolized the overall viewership pie among platforms. The latter was far ahead with a 76.1% share of the total hours watched, followed by the Amazon-owned site with the remaining 23.9%, showing just how dominant these two companies are in the world of entertainment and live streaming.

Japanese and English were also the two most-watched languages by audiences among VTubers, notching 1.7B HW and 42.2M HW, respectively, meaning they took up 58.5% and 9.3% of the overall share. This meant two languages ate up more than two-thirds of the viewership allocation in the first quarter of this year.

  How gender and countries were distributed across the first quarter   

As expected, Japan was the dominant nationality among VTubers, accounting for 1,192 channels, which makes up 72.9% of the total pie. The United States (109, 6.7%) and Thailand (100, 6.1%) are distant second and third, respectively, being the only other countries to reach triple figures in this metric.

The Google-owned firm had 1500 VTubers operating over the first quarter of 2023, while the purple platform had 789. Of these numbers, 1419 were female, while 318 were male, leading to shares of 81.2% and 18.2%, respectively.

  Agencies with the most VTubers on these lists   

When it comes to affiliation, hololive gets the slight edge thanks to 24.6% of the overall watch hours or 61M HW. NIJISANJI comes in a close second with 23.8% or 59M HW of the total share, followed by Independent VTubers — those without agencies — at 54M HW, which made up 21.7% of the chart.

ironmouse is the outlier here, but it seemingly feels like the most successful VTubers, for obvious reasons, are hired by the most successful, followed, and popular agencies. There is always an upside to working for/with the best companies, and that definitely has held true for Q1 2023.

The most watched VTubers based on affiliation in Q1 2023

With VTubing growing so quickly, it might soon catch up with regular streaming as the mainstream choice for content creators not only in Japan but other Asian and Western countries. The former nation has managed to make it a lucrative business, and these companies have been vindicated in taking such steps before the boom in the industry. However, they will soon face the challenge of new VTubers and agencies rising to fame, meaning it will be an interesting time for fans of the genre.