Virtual YouTubers, also known as VTubers, are gaining recognition in recent years. Have you ever wondered how many VTubers exist? As of October 19, there are over 16,000 VTubers all over the world. Data technology company User Local announced this in a press release.
Data from User Local states that the number has been growing since December 2017, as follows:
| Date | Number of VTubers |
|---|---|
| March 19, 2018 | 1,000 |
| April 27, 2018 | 2,000 |
| May 28, 2018 | 3,000 |
| July 10, 2018 | 4,000 |
| September 12, 2018 | 5,000 |
| December 19, 2018 | 6,000 |
| February 21, 2019 | 7,000 |
| May 6, 2019 | 8,000 |
| September 5, 2019 | 9,000 |
| January 15, 2020 | 10,000 |
| May 24, 2020 | 11,000 |
| August 17, 2020 | 12,000 |
| November 10, 2020 | 13,000 |
| October 19, 2021 | 16,000 |
The company has calculated the numbers based on major Virtual YouTubers’ channels, as well as those who have applied for their rankings.
On the other hand, here are the top 10 VTubers on User Local’s website. Although the rankings in this release exclude Hololive production’s Houshou Marine who is on hiatus. She has 1.66 million subscribers and so she would be in 6th place.
| Rank | Virtual YouTuber | Number of Subscribers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gawr Gura (Hololive English) | 3.49 million |
| 2 | Kizuna Ai | 2.98 million |
| 3 | Usada Pekora (Hololive production) | 1.74 million |
| 4 | Mori Calliope (Hololive English) | 1.74 million |
| 5 | Inugami Korone (Hololive production) | 1.70 million |
| 6 | Shirakami Fubuki (Hololive production) | 1.64 million |
| 7 | Watson Amelia (Hololive English) | 1.48 million |
| 8 | A.I.Games (Kizuna Ai’s Game Channel) | 1.53 million |
| 9 | Uruha Rushia (Hololive production) | 1.44 million |
| 10 | Minato Aqua (Hololive production) | 1.41 million |
Hololive production’s VTubers are really popular in this field, as they almost conquer the worldwide rankings. In fact, they even collaborate with different organizations, such as a professional baseball league in Japan.
Although the chart is full of female VTubers, it doesn’t mean male VTubers are insignificant.
Nijisanji VTuber Kuzuha became the first male VTuber to achieve the 1 million subscriber milestone last September. He is also the first VTuber to have 1 million subscribers within Nijisanji.
Recently, both Hololive and Nijisanji continued to expand their global reach with the introduction of new VTubers this year. Meanwhile, US-based VShojo has signed a deal with Nippon TV’s V-Clan to expand their reach into the Japanese audience. The number of VTubers will keep increasing, and we’ll see how many we’ll have by the end of this year.
Did you know Anime Corner also has its very own VTuber, Tsukimi Lune? She hosts some shows such as Ani-Talk on the Anime Corner Facebook page. She streams her weekly Tsuki Talk chat on YouTube. And similarly, she plays games on Twitch.
Source: Press Release (JP), User Local / Banner Photo: Usada Pekora, Gawr Gura, Kizuna Ai. · © 2021 User Local, Inc. © COVER Corp. © Kizuna AI