Taiwanese VTubers: From Corporate Experiments to the Evolution of "Breakout" Virtual-Real Symbiosis

30-Second Overview: In 2017, Yahoo TV launched Hoonie, marking the starting point of Taiwan's VTuber industry. From its earliest corporate technology experiments to more than 3,000 VTubers cumulatively debuting across Taiwan by 2025, Taiwan has built a mature "Taiwan wave" virtual entertainment ecosystem. It is not only a core medium connecting Generation Z with traditional culture; although the Super Chat economy it drives has reached tens of millions, individual creators still face the challenges of high costs and high turnover. At the same time, it has also enabled collaborations with Olympic athletes and prompted PTS Taiwanese to create programming around it. ^{1 2 3}

On July 7, 2017, the virtual girl "Hoonie," with bright yellow twin tails and sharp tiger fangs, officially appeared on Yahoo TV as a program host, opening the curtain on Taiwan's VTuber industry. ⁴ (Her fan page had opened on June 30.) At the time, only half a year had passed since the debut of Kizuna AI, widely regarded as the progenitor of Japanese VTubers, and Taiwan was already entering this experiment in virtual-real convergence through corporate force. ⁴ "Hoonie is not a character; she is our imagination of future media," the production team defined her at the time. That imagination bore fruit nine years later: by 2026, Taiwanese VTubers (hereafter "Taiwan V") were no longer a niche circle's self-admiration, but cultural flag-bearers capable of collaborating with Olympic athletes and prompting PTS Taiwanese to create dedicated programming. ⁵ According to the latest data, the leading tier of Taiwan V subscriptions has stabilized in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands range, with frontrunners such as Li Ting (540,000) and Annin Miru (440,000). ^{1 6}

From Corporate Experiments to the Rise of Indies

Hoonie's birth carried a strong corporate character. Yahoo TV needed a new kind of host who could interact with audiences, and the flexibility of a virtual character, along with the fact that she would not "produce scandals," fit that need precisely. Her character image was jointly designed by Studio Reals and SAFE HOUSE T, and the production team adopted the latest Live2D technology of the time, allowing flat illustrations to follow the host's facial expressions and movements in real time. ⁴

In 2018, Hoonie conducted an interview with director Mamoru Hosoda, becoming Taiwan's first VTuber to interview an internationally renowned animation director. She also appeared with Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je to promote the Universiade, and in 2020 even appeared in the same frame as President Tsai Ing-wen on Tang Chi-yang's program. These "firsts" established an important precedent for Taiwanese VTubers: virtual characters could step beyond the ACG circle and enter mainstream media and political arenas. ⁴

💡 Did You Know?
Hoonie ranked 118th in a global VTuber survey, placing in the leading tier among more than 4,000 VTubers worldwide, and was called an "island lord"-like presence by fans. ⁴

However, the corporate-led model also had its limitations. In January 2020, the first-generation Hoonie (α Hoonie) "went to Planet Mike" and ended her hosting work, with β Hoonie taking over. In August 2023, β Hoonie also announced that she would enter an extended hiatus. The life cycle of an IP always seemed constrained by shifts in corporate strategy. ⁴

As corporate IPs gradually withered, the industry's center of gravity shifted toward decentralized Indies. The development of Taiwan's VTubers can be divided into three key stages:

• Early Exploration (2017-2018): Led by Yahoo TV's Hoonie and Oris as pioneers, this period opened the early attempts at corporate VTuber operations. ²
• Contending Powers and Corporate Entry (2019-2021): Popular Indies such as Annin Miru rose to prominence. At the same time, professional agencies such as Springfish Studio and Project Meridian entered the field, establishing trainee systems similar to those of the entertainment industry. ^{7 2}
• Rapid Growth and Localization (2022-Present): The number of VTubers grew explosively. As of 2025, more than 3,000 VTubers had cumulatively debuted across Taiwan, demonstrating extremely high levels of community interaction and localization. ² However, the number of actually active VTubers is far lower than this (mostly several hundred under stable tracking), and many creators quickly "go on hiatus" or reincarnate after debuting, reflecting the industry's high turnover and "sweatshop" reality. ³

📝 Curator's Note: As corporate IPs gradually withered, the free spirit of Indies became the most resilient lifeline of the Taiwan V industry. Yet high turnover and the hidden "sweatshop" reality also remind us that this road is far from smooth.

Taiwanese Revitalization and the Cultural Path of Localization

When the public regarded virtual idols as copies of Japanese culture, a group of Taiwanese creators chose Taiwanese as their cultural fulcrum. ⁸ In 2023, Chan Fang-yu, whose background was in National Taiwan Normal University's Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature, founded "Shenxiao" and launched a VTuber team that conversed entirely in Taiwanese. In a video, she introduced herself using Taiwanese Romanization: "Ta̍k-ke hó! Guá sī Lu̍t-sim. Sī 18 hòe Chúi-kan-á-chō (Aquarius) ê bí-siàu-lí." This was unprecedented in Taiwan's VTuber circle. ⁸ Chan Fang-yu's motivation was straightforward: "Let VTubers speak Taiwanese." She believed that rather than using traditional coercive methods to make young people learn Taiwanese, it would be better to use an emerging entertainment form like VTubers to let audiences naturally encounter Taiwanese culture through entertainment. Shenxiao's VTubers use Taiwanese to discuss current affairs, teach audiences how to say "emotional blackmail" in Taiwanese (khí-moo khà-iû), and even explain the cultural differences between banquet-table catering and open-air roadside banquets. ⁸

This localization attempt received government support. The Shenxiao team passed the Ministry of Education's U-start Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program and received a NT$900,000 subsidy, becoming the only student entrepreneurship team from National Taiwan Normal University selected that year. They also collaborated on programming with PTS Taiwanese, inviting the well-known VTuber Rongrongshu to participate in the program "Passing Life Through Voice," setting a record in which single-day viewership climbed from single digits to 2,000 people. In addition, the Shenxiao team also collaborated with Chunghwa Post to promote its mobile app and stamp-collecting activities, bringing Taiwanese-language culture to a broader audience. ^{5 2}

📝 Curator's Note: When technology becomes a vehicle for culture, Live2D is not only animation technology but also a digital ark for an ancient language, carrying the possibilities of cultural transmission and innovation.

Diverse Images: The Local Affinity of Animal VTubers

Within the Taiwan V ecosystem, VTubers with purely animal images have formed a group that cannot be ignored. Compared with character designs that emphasize beautiful-girl or beautiful-boy personas, animal VTubers enter the market with images that are harmless and approachable. ⁹ For example, the toucan VTuber Naji not only sings Taiwanese songs, but has also commissioned an inflatable doll, hoping to one day interact with fans while wearing a mascot costume. ⁵ In addition, characters such as the bear-themed Kuma, the snowy owl Xingbo, and the overseas Chinese YouTuber A Groundhog all demonstrate the creativity of Taiwanese VTubers in character design. This attempt to move from the virtual world into physical mascot costumes reflects Taiwan V creators' desire to break through the barrier of the screen and establish embodied emotional connections with fans.

📝 Curator's Note: When "moe" is no longer the only answer, animal VTubers prove that approachability is the pass that crosses dimensions.

Business Models: Emotional Economy and Cross-Domain Collaboration

The economic model of Taiwanese VTubers shows characteristics sharply different from Japan's. In Japan, large agencies such as Hololive and Nijisanji rely primarily on merchandise sales for revenue (accounting for 40-60% of revenue), followed by revenue from activities such as concerts. Taiwanese VTubers, however, rely mainly on Super Chat and membership subscription income, while merchandise sales remain relatively limited. ⁷ In addition, Japanese VTuber giants such as Hololive and Nijisanji also have large fan bases and live-streaming data in Taiwan, and their technologies and styles have exerted a profound influence on the Taiwanese market, forming relationships of competition and cooperation involving "Taiwan V resistance" or hybrid settings.

This difference reflects the realities of market size and consumer habits. According to Playboard statistics, VTubers occupied 42 spots in Taiwan's 2023 YouTube Top 100 Super Chat ranking, with total Super Chat revenue of NT$33.52 million, accounting for 38% of the overall total. ⁷ Although this already represents a scale of tens of millions in a single year, individual income remains limited when averaged across hundreds to thousands of VTubers. In addition, YouTube takes a platform cut of about 30%, and agency revenue-sharing further reduces earnings, leaving many Indie VTubers with monthly incomes of only several thousand to several tens of thousands of NT dollars, far below the imagination that they "earn more than office workers." ³ Crowdfunding has therefore become an important way for Taiwanese VTubers to break through financial constraints.

For example, Mizuki's 3D conversion crowdfunding campaign reached NT$8.74 million, while Lily Linglan's crowdfunding for 3D conversion and an in-person concert reached NT$8.68 million, both far exceeding their original goals. Lin Ta-han, founder of WaBay, observed: "Operating a VTuber requires audience participation, which is similar to the essence of crowdfunding. As long as a Taiwanese VTuber has reached a certain scale, they will all use crowdfunding to strengthen themselves next." ⁷

The social influence of Taiwan V is also expressed through diverse cross-domain collaborations:

• Springfish Creative: Specializes in IP story-building and has launched series such as Endangered and Age of Beasts, with its VTubers serving as virtual ambassadors for the Paris Olympics. ¹⁰
• Project Meridian: Pursues a boutique strategy; its Mizuki is one of Taiwan's highest-earning VTubers by Super Chat revenue. ⁷
• Moejin Entertainment: Uses an "affordable, high-volume" strategy; its first-generation group EXITUS and second-generation group MeloNyx have 13 members in total, establishing a trainee system similar to that of the entertainment industry. ⁷
• PTS Taiwanese: Collaborated with Rongrongshu on the program "Passing Life Through Voice." ⁵
• Nan I Book Enterprise: Launched its own VTuber and virtual classroom, introducing virtual streamers into educational settings.

On the technology supplier side, companies such as Kokura Electronics and Future Ward, which provide motion-capture equipment, as well as HTC VIVE Originals' metaverse platform Beatday, allow VTubers to hold concerts in virtual reality. In addition, the establishment of organizations such as the Taiwan Virtual Influencer Association has promoted industry norms and technical sharing, giving this "Taiwan wave" greater scale. ²

📝 Curator's Note: In Taiwan, VTubers are not only entertainment, but also a point of convergence between culture and commerce, creating value through emotion and expanding boundaries through cross-sector work. Yet the "sweatshop" conditions and high costs behind the scenes, as well as competition and cooperation with Japanese giants, also deserve deeper reflection.

Challenges and New Trends

The development of Taiwan's VTuber industry has not been smooth sailing. Talent loss is the greatest challenge: among the top ten in the 2021 Super Chat ranking, Pinpinzi and No. 15 have graduated, while Hoshimi Haruka left her original agency. Differences in philosophy and disputes over revenue-sharing between agencies and creators have led waves of "graduations" to appear frequently. ³

Technical thresholds and funding needs also limit the scale of the industry. V skins and Live2D modeling usually cost between NT$100,000 and NT$200,000, while 3D modeling can cost as much as NT$500,000. ³ Many VTubers face the difficulty of raising exposure, and their average post-debut lifespan is only about six months. ³ All of this reflects the "sweatshop" side of the Taiwan V industry. In addition, the "money-burning culture" common in the community (the pressure that follows high-value crowdfunding), meme use and Generation Z stickiness, as well as platform policy changes such as YouTube algorithm adjustments and Super Chat taxation, all pose operational challenges for VTubers.

Nevertheless, the industry's prospects remain optimistic. Wang Wei-chih, assistant professor at National Tsing Hua University's Institute of Taiwan Literature, points out that VTubers possess three combined traits: "the recognizability of anime characters, the real-time interaction of streamers, and the emotional connection of idols," while Taiwanese creators are especially outstanding in "use of local languages, approachability, and use of internet memes." ² This localization advantage has also gained recognition in international markets. Although Rongrongshu lives in Japan, she chose Springfish Creative to assist with legal and business matters; Annin Miru has fans in both Taiwan and Japan through her mixed Taiwanese-Japanese setting. Taiwanese VTubers are not copies of the Japanese model, but a distinctive form suited to local culture and markets, developed on the basis of inheriting the core concept. ² In addition, Taiwanese VTubers' cross-platform performance on platforms such as Bilibili and Twitch, along with the return or dual-base presence of overseas Taiwanese creators, has also strengthened their international connections.

New variables appeared in 2025 and 2026: AI technology became deeply involved, and the AI VTuber brand launched by MorphusAI used generative AI for real-time interaction. ¹¹ Although the scale of AI VTubers, their competitive or cooperative relationship with human VTubers, and their technical limitations (such as the quality of real-time interaction and differences in emotional connection) remain to be observed, their potential should not be underestimated. At the same time, the popularization of 5G networks has made metaverse concerts on HTC VIVE's Beatday possible, allowing audiences to enter venues in Avatar form and realize virtual-real symbiosis. ^{2 3} A January 2026 report in the Taipei Times mentioned that VTubers had become "the most effective cross-domain medium," unconstrained by physical bodies and real-world settings and able to instantly cross different fields and communities. ² Wang Wei-chih predicted that "corporate self-built VTubers" would become standard equipment for brands managing digital communities. ² In addition, the adoption of Live2D and 3D technologies, as well as the development of open-source tools, has significantly lowered the entry threshold for Indie VTubers, becoming an important driver of their rise.

📝 Curator's Note: As virtual idols face real-world challenges, AI and the metaverse are opening a new chapter for the Taiwan V industry, blurring the boundary between virtual and real while testing the adaptability of creators and the industry.

Conclusion: Guarding the Real Within the Virtual

From Hoonie's solitary trial run in 2017 to the cultural landscape collectively built by more than 3,000 VTubers in 2025, Taiwan has proven that virtual technology can carry the most local emotions. When a virtual girl speaking Taiwanese about current affairs can attract thousands of people to watch simultaneously, what we see is no longer merely technological progress, but the possibility of cultural transmission and innovation. The shell is virtual; the soul is real. In an era when everything can be virtualized, Taiwan V creators are defining, in their own way, what "modern Taiwan" means.

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