VRChat Rockets to Popularity in Japan Thanks to Conference, TV Show, Etc.

Longtime reader Martin K just shared this stunning Google Trends results, showing that interest in VRChat in Japan has hit an all-time high. SimilarWeb tells a parallel story, with Japan-based traffic to VRChat's website second only to the US, and nearly 20% of the total. (Compared to 40% of traffic from the US.)

Why the explosion? My indispensable Japanese translator Sanny Yoshikawa points to a huge trade show for virtual world fans, VKet Real, held in several cities in Japan and in VRChat. That's one of an entire talk show on Asahi TV (a top broadcaster in the country) hosted inside VRChat. Google translate tells us the show is:

An unprecedented talk variety show where humans, VTubers, and metaverse residents (avatars) come together ! The performers sit on a stage in a studio that resembles a crossroads where the real world and the metaverse are fused together. They will passionately discuss the inevitable virtual world and the latest culture and trends that you need to know about now!

Inevitable! The challenge is connecting the Japanese user base with the English-speaking one. A VRChat insider recommends TTS Voice Wizard as a third party solution, but I say VRChat the company should prioritize adding an internal voice translator into the virtual world. Now with 10 million active users, up to 20% of them likely speaking Japanese as their first language, VRChat has an opportunity to create a truly international virtual community.

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Comments

[Martin K.]

Thanks for looking into this! I was unaware of VKet Real and the TV show inside VRChat.

> The challenge is connecting the Japanese user base with the English-speaking one.

Is it? I'm very skeptical about this. That is, some of the "connections" won't be much of a challenge: selling 3D assets and monetizing worlds in multiple countries and languages is a well understood problem and not much of a challenge.

"Connecting" users speaking different languages is much more challenging - but is it necessary or even helpful? Historically, social media's success is not based on connecting all their users into a big happy family; it is based on connecting like-minded people into social bubbles, i.e., a fragmentation of their user base. Establishing your social bubble on a social platform is key. And you can see it in many virtual communities like VRChat: the public worlds become increasingly toxic while the most engaged users stay with their group in private worlds. The fragmentation is already much more granular than users' languages would suggest.

[Enverex]

It's unlikely it was VKet, that happens every year and isn't new. What does look like it may have been the cause is a very popular Japanese streamer (nicosutanmi) recently started doing VRChat content and they're getting over a MILLION views PER WEEK on each of these videos.