Virtual Influencers in 2026: East Asia’s Hype vs. Southeast Asia’s Reality
Every week, a new “miracle” lands in someone’s WhatsApp group: A Chinese virtual human sells a million dollars’ worth of lipstick in minutes. A Korean digital idol earns more than half the celebrities on your billboards. A virtual girl group racks up 300 million views on Douyin before lunch. And of course, someone forwards it to the boss: “Why don’t we do one of these also?” We get it. The numbers are dazzling. The production looks flawless. But here’s the thing: East Asia has developed very specific playbooks for virtual influencers. Southeast Asia is experimenting with its own mix of humans, AI, and stylised characters, and that’s what actually works here. Why East Asia Can Sprint While Southeast Asia Is Finding Its Own Pace 1. Budgets shape the game A top-tier hyper-real virtual human costs between RM3.5m–RM20m to build, RM200k–RM600k monthly to maintain. In China or Korea, scale and platform support make it work. In SEA, that level of investment is mostly for supe...