Picture a VTuber in your head. Who comes to mind? Nyanners? Zentreya? Pekora? Shylily? Probably Shylily, since I put her in the primary image, right? But no, in all seriousness, most people think of VTubers as women. Although there are certainly plenty of popular male VTubers out there, female models have traditionally dominated the highest echelons of the VTubing industry. But just how steep is the gender gap in VTubing? Apparently, Streams Charts and VSTATS ran the numbers earlier this year, and it’s not a very promising statistic for boys who want to make it big as Virtual YouTubers.Among the top VTubers, women dominateAccording to Streams Charts and VSTATS’ Q1 2025 report on the VTubing industry, data on the “top 4,000+ VTubers” reveals 70.2% of the most popular channels in the field are dedicated to a female model. Only 27.1% focus on men, with 1.9% listed as “Others.” In fact, the gender gap between male and female talent actually increased by a tenth of a percent compared to Q4 2024.Screenshot: Streams Charts x VSTATSThis coincides with a similar report by Stream Hatchet, which looked at the top 100 most watched VTubers from January 1st to November 24th, 2024. In that report, the company discovered 80% of the most popular VTubers were women. Only 20% had male models.“VTuber agency Hololive reports that 82% of its audience is men, which matches with the performer/fan relationship seen in idol culture,” Stream Hatchet wrote in its study. “In saying that, rival agency Nijisanji has seen significant success with male VTubers such as Kuzuha and Lauren Iroas, both of whom stream on Twitch.”Womp if you’re, well, you knowAs for the most popular VTuber models in terms of age, would you be surprised to learn that they lean toward young adults? In the same period, Stream Hatchet found 74% of the most watched VTubers in the industry used young adult models. Only a mere 13% were described as “child-like.” Overall, 87% of the most popular VTubers from last year looked like adults in some shape or form.The data suggests there’s a clear route to being a popular VTuber: Have a female model, appeal to male viewers, and look like an adult. Sex appeal is likely core to female VTuber popularity as well. Look no further than Shylily’s “Womp if you’re horny” Gamer Supps truck advert.Shylily on Truck byu/_Deadlime_ inshylilyStill, male VTubers shouldn’t give up hope. As Stream Hatchet pointed out, Nijisanji has seen success with its male streamers. And one of the most watched VTubers on Twitch over the past 30 days is Neo-Porte’s Hiiragi Tsurugi, only behind VShojo’s Zentreya and Ironmouse. Men are far less likely to pop off as VTubers, but it can still happen. You just have an uphill battle ahead if you want to reach the top.The post Everyone Knows Female VTubers Are Popular. But the Gender Gap Is Bigger Than You Think appeared first on VICE.