Twitch CEO Dan Clancy Says Vtubing Is Still At An Early Stage
The person running the platform where much of this activity happens is now publicly betting that Vtubing's cost barrier, not its audience, is what holds the category back.
Reporting from 1 source: Inside.
At Tokyo Game Show 2026, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy gave a keynote and a media roundtable, then spoke one on one with Inside. He said Vtubing started in Japan and keeps growing abroad but is still at an early stage, because making a Vtuber character has been expensive. He expects cheaper entry, more 3D models, and virtual environments that other people enter and leave.
Clancy's case rests on price. Making a Vtuber character has been expensive until now, and he expects that to change, which is the condition he attaches to further growth. From there he sketches three movements: lower entry costs pull more people in, 2D models give way to 3D, and virtual spaces get lively enough that other people come and go inside them.
He also rejected the premise that community means something different in Japan. Shared experience, then a feeling of being comfortable and accepted, was his definition, and he called the desire for it a fundamental human desire that transcends culture. What differs, he said, is how that desire shows up.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.