>>987960You came to the right conclusion, but through the wrong means. Kizuna AI was more of a pre-Golden age.
A better example of whats going to happen to Vtubing in the long term would be whats happened with other significant "Tubing" communities in the longterm. I'm going to use the Minecraft tubing community as an example since its one of the largest and longest running.
Minecraft youtubing had its "pre-Golden age" in 2011 with X's adventures in minecraft and Far Lands or bust. The Minecraft tubing golden age started properly with the likes of Antvenom and Captain Sparklez in 2012 and lasted until late 2014, when the community hit a dry patch. The big names stuck around, albeit in a less stound out way, and some more niche content creators, such as Mumbo Jumbo and other notable Hermit Crafters, kept the flame alive, however the community didn't have the same explosive growth and cultural pull it used to have. This goes on until 2019, when a second pre-golden age starts with Pewdiepie and Wilbursoot picking up minecraft. This rekindles interest in the game, and people start gradually flowing back in. This leads to SMPlive beginning to garner popularity, with CallMeCarson and WilburSoot leading the start of a "second golden age"
SMPlive eventually goes out of style, and the hype moves along with DreamSMP carrying the torch, with new creators like TommInnit, Dream and Technoblade growing to popularity, with Minecraft tubing being more stable and successful now than it ever was previously.
If we're to apply this to Vtubing, what I reckon will happen is that we'll see the hype dry up a year and a half from now, with only big names like Holo, Niji, and Vshojo sticking around, until eventually something happens to rekindle the hype and a second, more stable golden age starts, with new faces leading the charge, but with the old guard still present.
