In a first in virtual Youtuber history, GREE became the first company to use a virtual character in order to introduce their financial summary briefing. Official VTuber Manami Isora appeared on-screen to announce that GREE will be entering the live entertainment industry (including VTubers) as its third pillar of business, as part of the Executive Summary. [Thanks, MoguraVR!]
According to Isora, GREE made 77.9 billion yen in terms of sales for FY18, and 9.4 billion yen in operating income. Their business policy for FY2019 is to strengthen and increase investment in their three pillars, which are their games business, advertising media business, and their new live entertainment business. For their live entertainment business, GREE will invest in expanding the Virtual Youtuber business ecosystem.
During the Q & A, GREE CEO Yoshikazu Tanaka was asked about the adoption of using VTubers, and he replied:
“We believe that using VTubers in order to introduce products or companies will become a big business in the future. Currently, various areas in Japan have mascot characters, and you can imagine how they could be turned into VTubers who can introduce various local specialties. Press releases for corporations are better done in person, but if it were directed towards users, such as when announcing a new game, having a VTuber explain it fits better, doesn’t it? We thought this financial summary briefing was one of these opportunities, and put it into practice.”
You can find GREE’s presentation for the briefing here.
