Squeezie, Maghla, Zerator…you’ve most likely already learn or seen their faces. All content material creators on the platform Twitchor reasonably streamers, they seem, dealing with the digicam, enjoying video video games, telling tales and even accumulating donations throughout charitable occasions just like the Seven.
However on Twitch, and even on different platforms, additionally, you will see streamers who’re a bit of completely different. Avatars, typically just like characters from Japanese manga or anime. These are the Vtubers. There are a number of thousand of them, primarily on Twitch, YouTube and the Chinese language platform Bilibili. At TwitchCon 2026 in Rotterdam (Netherlands) this weekend, 20 Minutes explains the phenomenon to you.
Made in Japon
Vtubing appeared within the 2010s on American and Chinese language streaming platforms (which means Youtube, Twitch and the Chinese language platform BiliBili). The primary to create their avatars had been streamers. Essentially the most emblematic of them is KizunaAI. With greater than three million subscribers, she has made a reputation for herself on the Web, to the purpose of getting her personal live performance on Fortnite. It was because of her that KatChan, a streamer, found Vtubing: “I had no concept that there was an actual individual behind the avatar. I assumed it was a vocaloid, software program that synthesizes a voice and with which you’ll be able to create music, like for singer Hatsune Miku. »
However in contrast to the world-famous digital pop star, behind the avatars of Vtubers, there are actual individuals. Software program tracks the actions of their faces, then reproduces them on their avatars. What’s left are the designs. As with Hatsune Miku, the aesthetic of Vtubers is nearly 100% impressed by Japanese anime and manga. However if you wish to be distinctive, that comes at a value: “My outdated avatar, usable solely by me, value me round 8,000 euros,” explains KatChan, “however the one I presently use is price 120 euros. Nonetheless, everybody should buy it. »
An escape from the hazards of the web
The vast majority of Vtubers have develop into so as a result of it is among the finest methods to take care of anonymity. As a result of exhibiting your self on the Web means taking the danger of dealing with haters. Much more in order a girl. “I began my journey on the Web as a facecam streamer, so with a webcam, my head, and so on.,” says KatChan. I used to be all the time afraid both of not being dressed sufficient, or quite the opposite of being too dressed, of not sporting sufficient make-up, and so on. Streaming was changing into an ordeal although it is a interest that I really like. »
The younger girl, nonetheless, specifies: “I generally present my face, for challenges with subscribers for instance. In any other case I present my arms very frequently. » A approach for her to reassure sure manufacturers who is perhaps questioning how one can create a bond with the viewer.
A darker facet
For most people, nonetheless, Vtubing doesn’t essentially have good press. It’s typically related to sexualization, with feminine avatars being ultra-sexualized regardless of having infantile options. For KatChan, this comes from the truth that the largest Vtubers are recognized for this. “Nevertheless it’s not the bulk. There are individuals who do Vtubing within the traditional approach. With out the “OnlyFans” half let’s say. »
This dangerous popularity additionally comes from a joke made by a Vtuber. Just a few years in the past, a streamer faked the truth that his digicam had glitched, and let his actual face seem behind his feminine avatar. However the group was completely conscious, opposite to what the press or social networks might have relayed.
However for KatChan, having a person behind a feminine avatar doesn’t essentially characterize an issue. “If a person desires to be extra artistic with a feminine avatar I gained’t see the issue. » For her, the benefit of Vtubing is that “you possibly can actually be no matter you need. If tomorrow I wish to draw a chair and animate it, I generally is a chair. I believe it is nice to have the ability to say that even for those who stream with an avatar that does not 100% mirror what you’re behind the display, you would possibly as properly go for one thing extra fanciful. “,
