Latest news with #VTubing
The Verge
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
VTuber agency VShojo shuts down after talent exodus
VShojo, the VTuber agency that billed itself as 'talent first,' is shutting down. VShojo CEO Justin 'Gunrun' Ignacio made the announcement today on X writing, 'I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us to this point.' Earlier this week, VShojo came under fire as Ironmouse, the agency's top performing VTuber, announced she was leaving the company over a missing $500k charity donation and her own unpaid funds. Her departure triggered a mass exodus of VShojo talent, with 12 of the company's 13 creators officially announcing their own split from the company with some also claiming unpaid wages as their reason. Ignacio's announcement alluded to VShojo's financial difficulties. 'We raised around $11 million to pursue a bold, talent-first approach in VTubing,' the statement read. 'However, despite all our efforts, the business failed to generate the revenue we needed to sustain that model, and eventually, we ran out of money.' Ignacio also admitted that the funds raised by Ironmouse and intended for the Immune Deficiency Foundation had been spent by the company: 'Additionally I acknowledge that some of the money spent by the company was raised in connection with talent activity which I later learned was intended for a charitable initiative.' Ignacio went on to write that he was confident that he'd be able to raise enough money to cover those costs. 'We were unsuccessful in our fundraising efforts.' Here's the statement in full. VShojo has failed and I've mismanaged the company into the situation you're all witnessing. So today I am sharing the difficult news that VShojo is shutting down, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us to this point. I've been doing everything I can to fundraise and right the ship these past few months, but despite my efforts, we are in a worse position, and those I care about are now paying the price. Over the past few years, we raised around $11 million to pursue a bold, talent-first approach in VTubing, prioritizing creators and community over short-term profits, to achieve long-term sustainability. Our funding went directly to our creators through generous splits, debut investments, infrastructure, concerts, events, unique creator-first approach for an agency. However, despite all our efforts, the business failed to generate the revenue we needed to sustain that model, and eventually, we ran out of money. Additionally, I acknowledge that some of the money spent by the company was raised in connection with talent activity, which I later learned was intended for a charitable initiative. At the time, we were working hard to raise additional investment capital to cover our costs, and I firmly believed, based on the information available to us, that we would be able to do so and cover all expenses. We were unsuccessful in our fundraising efforts. I made the decision to pursue funding, and I own its consequences. I am deeply sorry to all the talents, staff, friends, and community members who believed in our brand. You did not deserve from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Ash Parrish Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Creators Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Gaming Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech
The Verge
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
VShojo is shutting down
VShojo, the VTuber agency that billed itself as 'talent first,' is shutting down. VShojo CEO Justin 'Gunrun' Ignacio made the announcement today on X writing, 'I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us to this point.' Earlier this week, VShojo came under fire as Ironmouse, the agency's top performing VTuber, announced she was leaving the company over a missing $500k charity donation and her own unpaid funds. Her departure triggered a mass exodus of VShojo talent, with 12 of the company's 13 creators officially announcing their own split from the company with some also claiming unpaid wages as their reason. Ignacio's announcement alluded to VShojo's financial difficulties. 'We raised around $11 million to pursue a bold, talent-first approach in VTubing,' the statement read. 'However, despite all our efforts, the business failed to generate the revenue we needed to sustain that model, and eventually, we ran out of money.' Ignacio also admitted that the funds raised by Ironmouse and intended for the Immune Deficiency Foundation had been spent by the company: 'Additionally I acknowledge that some of the money spent by the company was raised in connection with talent activity which I later learned was intended for a charitable initiative.' Ignacio went on to write that he was confident that he'd be able to raise enough money to cover those costs. 'We were unsuccessful in our fundraising efforts.' Here's the statement in from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Ash Parrish Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Creators Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Gaming Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech
Time of India
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Ironmouse-VShojo fallout explodes: MoistCr1TiKaL slams VTuber agencies in brutally honest rant; Details here
VShojo, a VTubing agency based in the United States that prided itself on being 'talent first', has suffered a massive blow to its reputation after the agency's biggest star, Ironmouse, parted ways on acrimonious terms. This falling out has prompted MoistCr1TiKaL or Charlie, a popular streamer and YouTuber who has worked with Ironmouse, to speak out against VTuber agencies. While he admitted he didn't have too much familiarity with VShojo specifically, he nonetheless derided VTuber agencies as largely exploitative enterprises that often enriched themselves at the expense of their talents. Charlie admitted that signing with an agency could provide the advantage of starting out with a built-in audience, but he nonetheless considered the overall system highly predatory. MoistCr1TiKaL calls VTuber agencies predatory, internet agrees MoistCr1TiKaL called out VTuber agencies, with Nijisanji, Hololive, and VShojo being among the top contenders in the market, as corporations that have exploited the burgeoning VTuber space for their own benefit while giving their actual talent a raw deal. MoistCr1TiKaL's sentiments are shared by many of the people reacting to the Ironmouse-VShojo falling out, with user ReikoAyumi_ lamenting that VShojo was once considered a 'perfect place', only for it to become apparent that no company is perfect. Seeing how they were looked at as the perfect place, only to suddenly shit the bucket so hard, most talents have removed VSHOJO From their name even prominent figures leaving and parting waysHope all Talents are ok tbh, its sad to see and is telling no company is perfect User Arthur A. Abbott also considered VShojo to be 'completely cooked' and expected a wave of mass resignations to follow. Vshojo is completely cooked, prepare for most if not all of the current talent to tenure their resignations in the next few days would be my guessContext: Allegedly they stole a large amount of money from Ironmouse, and have withheld over half a million dollars from charity User drag0nsaintVT speculated that VShojo had refused to accept any of the recent applicants because they knew they wouldn't be able to support them. putting my tinfoil conspiracy hat on for a never accepted any of the recent applications for VShojo cause they wouldn't be able to support them (or they had other "things" going on) MoistCr1TiKaL says VTuber agencies are becoming redundant A major point of MoistCr1TiKaL's video was his belief that VTuber agencies have been losing relevancy over time, thanks to recent success stories in indie VTubing. This includes talents that have parted ways with their former agencies only to become massively successful influencers in their own right. MoistCr1TiKaL ultimately believed that signing with VTubing agencies was no longer worth the trade-offs in autonomy and earning potential, and that the 'golden years' of these agencies was coming to an end. With the recent high-profile debacle surrounding VShojo, his words may very well prove prophetic. To stay updated on the stories that are going viral follow Indiatimes Trending.
Le Figaro
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Le Figaro
Behind the Avatar: How VTubers Are Redefining Influence — and Protecting Themselves Online
VTubers generate YouTube content that now draws three times more views on YouTube than it did five years ago. The phenomenon, originating from Japan, is seen as a safeguard against cyberbullying – and is steadily gaining ground in France. A half-feline, half-human character swings across the screen, her cat ears protruding from a thick mane of red hair. Her jerky gestures, crystaline voice and large, bright eyes evoke the aesthetic of Japanese animation. The fantastical avatar, who goes by the name of Miel Crapouille in front of the approximately 4,000 people connected that day on the video platform Twitch, interacts with her viewers live. Behind this persona is a 27-year-old woman who chooses to remain anonymous. She is one of the most popular French-speaking VTubers, with nearly 16,000 subscribers on Twitch. 'VTubing is a way to create content online using a character. Instead of showing your face, you have a fictional appearance,' Miel Crapouille explains. Despite the misleading neologism — a contraction of the words 'virtual' and 'YouTubers' —, VTubers are flesh-and-blood creators disguised as characters. These are most often inspired by manga culture, and rendered through digital animation. In practical terms, the video makers use motion sensors and image modeling techniques, known as 'rigging,' to generate an on-screen avatar that faithfully reproduces their gestures and facial expressions in real time. These same special effects technologies are used in cinema, animation and video games. 57% of 14-44 year-olds watched a VTuber in 2024 Originating in Japan in the mid-2010s, VTubing is now spreading internationally and is taking off in English-speaking countries. The number of hours of this type of video watched on Twitch in the UK tripled last year, compared to a 57% increase in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. Globally, viewing of this content increased by 10% in one year, reaching 1.1 billion hours. On YouTube, the trend is also spectacular. The number of views generated by these video makers on the platform with the red rectangle has tripled in five years, approaching 50 billion views in 2024, with 57% of viewers aged 14 to 44 saying they have watched a VTuber in the last 12 months. As proof of this recent craze, events highlighting VTubing are multiplying. In 2023, the Content Creator of the Year prize at the Game Awards, the Oscars of video games, was awarded for the first time to a VTuber, Puerto Rican Ironmouse, who has 2.3 million subscribers on Twitch. That same year, streamer Filian inaugurated the first VTuber Awards in Los Angeles, with the aim of promoting skills specific to this field of content creation, such as technological innovation or creativity in avatar design. Following this, KatChan launched the VTubers Awards Francophone, with a ceremony broadcast live on Twitch in December 2024. 'I organize a lot of things to promote VTubing in France. With the Awards, it's mission accomplished!,' the creator says happily. 'I thought we'd have 200 viewers, but we got nearly a thousand. I still receive messages from people telling me they discovered VTubing thanks to the Awards.' The Nyassobi association also aims to promote French-speaking VTubing by taking part in trade shows and organizing practical training workshops. Founded last September, the association has already received nearly 150 membership applications. 'We spent nearly five months preparing the launch of the association, in particular because we wanted to consult the CNIL (National Commission on Informatics and Liberty). It was important for us to ensure the protection of our members' identities,' says Tom Habbar, president of Nyassobi. And for good reason: anonymity is a central issue in VTubing. As female content creators regularly denounce the cyberbullying they experience, the majority of VTubers are women who find it is a way to ward off online violence. 'My avatar is a form of protection. It prevents me from being judged on my appearance,' says Chu, who has been a VTuber for four years. The anonymity also appeals to members of the LGBTQ+ community, helping 'some people to embrace their identities, as they can't do so in their everyday lives,' notes Tom Habbar. A character that can tell stories Virtual disguise also constitutes a creativity enhancer, says to the president of Nyassobi: 'It marks the difference between social media activity and personal life. We can allow ourselves to tell stories that have nothing to do with our real lives.' An 'artistic community' has thus formed, with many VTubers devoting themselves to singing, drawing or acting in their videos. Designing the avatar is also an artistic creation in itself. So much so that some VTubers hire illustrators and animators, whose commissions can cost several thousand euros, to create their character. 'Choosing your appearance and adapting it to your liking is quite incredible!,' says Miel Crapouille, who spent nearly 6,200 euros ($7,186) for her current avatar. The red-haired VTuber acknowledges that she is one of the 'very few people' in this segment of content creation who makes a living from her videos in France. According to KatChan, who initiated the VTubers Awards Francophone, the number of professional French VTubers can indeed be counted on the fingers of one hand. 'We've had a fairly critical response to VTubing in France,' says Raoul Leibel, director of the livestream division of the media and influencer group Webedia, who believes that 'hiding behind an avatar undermines the promise of authenticity' at the heart of most social networks. But while VTuber stars are struggling to emerge, the phenomenon is gaining momentum in France. 'When I started three years ago, there were about a hundred of us. Today, we've passed the 1,000 VTuber mark,' estimates KatChan. To build on this momentum, she is organizing a second edition of the VTubers Awards Francophone, in collaboration with the Nyassobi association, which is scheduled to be broadcast on Twitch in December. The goal? 'An even higher-quality show than last year.'
Express Tribune
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Gawr Gura announces Hololive graduation after disagreements with management
Hololive English VTuber Gawr Gura has officially announced her graduation from the agency, marking a significant departure for one of the most recognisable faces in the VTubing world. The announcement was made during a livestream titled "Important Announcement," in which Gura cited disagreements with Hololive's management and company direction as the reason behind her decision. Gawr Gura debuted in September 2020 as a founding member of Hololive EN. Since then, she has become one of the most influential figures in virtual entertainment. Her humour, shark-themed persona, and global appeal made her a standout in the VTuber scene. Her performances at concerts, conventions, and digital events consistently drew large audiences and helped solidify Hololive's reputation internationally. In its official statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Hololive Production confirmed the graduation and expressed gratitude for Gura's contributions. 'We sincerely thank all the fans who have shown their unwavering love and support,' the agency stated. Her departure also reflects a broader trend, as several high-profile graduations have occurred across both the English and Japanese branches of Hololive. Fellow EN talents including Nanashi Mumei, Ceres Fauna, Amelia Watson, and Tsukumo Sana have also announced exits in recent months. On the Japanese side, notable names such as Murasaki Shion and Sakamata Chloe have also stepped away. While reasons for leaving vary, many have referenced either creative disagreements or shifting priorities within the company, including a growing emphasis on idol-style performances and corporate tie-ups over traditional streaming content. Hololive CEO Motoaki "Yagoo" Tanigo acknowledged concerns in a March statement, pledging to improve internal support and communication. Gawr Gura's final live stream is scheduled for May 1, 2025, marking the end of an era for her fans and Hololive alike.
