For five hours, VTubers from all over the world communicated live, devised collaborations, played games, and some even provide their knowledge about VTubing’s history and tips and tricks.

The show won the approval of the audience: non-stop comments in the chat, the VTA hashtag all over X (formerly known as Twitter), a surge in the great giveaway participation, and much more.

Since the award is independent, it was the viewers who had to decide which virtual creator was the most successful in their particular niche and also choose the VTuber of the Year. Let’s take a look back at what the event looked like, starting with the results of the 2023 VTuber Awards.

• Mori Calliope — Best Music VTuber
• Ninomae Ina’nis — Best Art VTuber
• Selen Tatsuki — Best FPS VTuber
• Kaela Kovalskia — Best Minecraft VTuber
• Ceres Fauna — Best Roleplay/ASMR VTuber
• Shylily — Best Just Chatting/Zatsu VTuber
• Vedal987 — Best Tech VTuber
• Chibidoki — Funniest VTuber
• Kobo Kanaeru — Most Chaotic VTuber
• FUWAMOCO — League of Their Own
• Fufu — Hidden Gem
• Henya the Genius — Rising Star
• Ironmouse — Miss VTuber
• Hololive — Best VTuber Org
• Phase Connect — Rising VTuber Org
• Cooksie — VTuber Clipper
• 2wintails — VTuber Parent of the Year
• Chumbuds (Gawr Gura) — Most Dedicated Fanbase
• Mika Melatika’s 60 Hour Charity Marathon — Best Philanthropic Event
• Connect the World — Best Concert Event
• Ironmouse Subathon — Best Streamed Event
• Suika Game — Stream Game of the Year
• Projekt Melody — Lewdtuber of the Year
• Selen Tatsuki — Gamer of the Year
• Ironmouse — VTuber of the Year

Now let’s talk about the event itself — starting with the host, Filian. An energetic and cheerful VTuber, she initiated the show together with Mythic Talent in the first place and also brought her unique vibe to the event, inspiring the viewers with her humor and jokes. Along with other virtual creator streamers, such as CottontailVA and Fufu, she played Oh Baby! Kart, drew and guessed other VTubers, talked with her peers, etc.

The five-hour broadcast brought together dozens of virtual streamers from all over the world. Their interaction deserves another shout-out. VTubers connected through virtual widgets and additional side screens and simply popped up right in the middle of the stage, proving that the virtual world has nothing in common with ours — not even borders. To simplify communication, as guests were scattered all across the planet, WePlay Studios implemented behind-the-scenes logistics with other streamers using Discord. The show attracted well-known VTubers along with hidden gem content creators. Therefore, the audience got a chance to take a closer look at their favs and get to know interesting personalities to follow.

For WePlay Studios, it was yet another milestone. The 2023 VTuber Awards is one of the biggest and most unusual projects that the company produced. The novel show amassed 68,951 concurrent viewers at its peak and totaled 278,881 hours watched. Mastering AR and XR skills in projects since the 2010s, the production team went the extra mile for its community, preparing a fully virtual event from scratch. WePlay Studios implemented the idea and concept, decorations and props in another dimension using hi-tech tools and their own creativity.

From a technical point of view, it was a truly virtual event at the very real WePlay Esports Arena Los Angeles. The same venue that has repeatedly demonstrated how it can be transformed from one event to another this time turned into a completely virtual stadium with real-life functionality. The virtual screens received signals from dozens of third-party sources, virtual lighting devices were controlled by real-life tools, and much more virtual/physical equipment worked in real time.

WePlay Studios implemented various tools such as Resolume, Pixotope, Unreal Engine, Vizrt, stYpe and Vicon tracking, as well as custom solutions to set up a huge virtual stage at the WePlay Esports Arena Los Angeles. Physically, there were just three cameras; however, using iPads, cranes, and Dolly cameras, operators made it feel like the stage was surrounded by a dozen cameras covering the event from all angles.

Moreover, to set up the virtual lights, WePlay Studios specialists connected them to a physical lighting controller to activate them, change color, and modify brightness in real time. Another interesting fact: most VTubers design their avatar in Unity, while for the show, WePlay Studios used Unreal Engine. Therefore, the team had to recreate the Filian model from scratch in a new environment without losing its personality.

To truly embody the virtual host on stage, the real Filian used a complete motion capture kit, including gloves, a helmet, boots, and sensors on the body and face to capture each movement. The costume changes were seamless for the audience, but in reality, such a small detail involved a whole new animation set to be provided. For five hours, Filian, equipped with all the necessary technical tools, guided her digital avatar, which hosted the stream.

In addition, to complement the picture, the production team created a bright graphic package for the stage — everything from the intro to the pauses, worked with the sound to make the voices sound more real, and so on. In the end, this event was not just another awards ceremony but a real show putting the spotlight on everything fans love about VTubing.

The world of VTubing is relatively new and is creating more and more content every day. Fans watch VTubers play games, create podcasts, come up with fascinating scenarios, and simply chat about various topics. The 2023 VTuber Awards is a tribute to everything that virtual content creators have created and a way to interest as many people as possible in this world.