Nobody asked for the ability to use xQc, HasanAbi, and Nicolas Cage’s faces as VTuber models, but thanks to streamer Fofamit, you can now. As if your face were made of Play-Doh, each model stretches and deforms in response to your facial movements. To recreate the horror, all you need is a camera or an iPhone with a facial capture app.
Fofamit has created several cursed models, but her haunted xQc mask was the most popular. Last month, she created it in response to xQc and other streamers abusing the VTuber Twitch tag.
Snuffy, one of Twitch’s most popular VTubers, streamed with her best xQc impersonation and Fofamit’s terrifying version of his face. Snuffy as budget xQc played Fortnite for an hour while imitating the popular streamer’s rapid commentary, which consisted solely of “dude” and “bro.” Chat joined in and watched as the face of xQc grotesquely slid back and forth over one of Snuffy’s normal models.
The VTuber Twitch tag, which was added last year, is usually filled with anime and cartoon-styled characters chatting and playing games, but streamers like xQc, Amouranth, and HasanAbi frequently take the top spots (who all stream with their normal faces).
It appears to be all for laughs for xQc, who was using the tag in a stream at the time of this writing, as evidenced in this clip where he explains saying that he is indeed a VTuber that includes a seemingly transphobic joke.
Tags are supposed to make it easier to find streamers to watch by providing categories such as educational, ADHD, and PVE. However, because they are chosen by the creators, they are not always useful. There are tags that are hyper-specific, such as Auditory ASMR, Backseating Allowed, and Speedrun, and tags like Anime. Tags can only tell you so much about what you’ll get when you tune in outside of the larger categories like Just Chatting and Music.
VTuber Marina made a post explaining how they believe misusing the tag prevents viewers from finding actual VTubers, which has received over 6,000 votes and 33 pages of comments. They also claim that it violates Twitch’s stated policy prohibiting deliberate misuse of titles, tags, games/categories, or other metadata.
Twitch has reacted to the backlash. In response to the topic, Twitch admin downski wrote.
The VTuber tag misuse, according to Fofamit, is just another example of Twitch breaking its own rules. The streaming platform has a shaky track record when it comes to enforcing its policies, particularly when it comes to hate speech and harassment.
Whether or not the misuse of the VTuber tag and others actually deprives streamers of potential viewers, it does highlight the problems with the tag system in general, as well as Twitch’s larger discoverability issue for anyone who doesn’t already have thousands of viewers.
Fofamit uses her YouTube and Twitch channels to create educational videos about streaming and rigging typical VTuber models. She was frustrated by the lack of information on the internet about how to set up a VTuber model, so she taught herself and began sharing her knowledge.
She made a variety of animated models along the way, including a bendable Nicolas Cage, HasanAbi, Clippy, Minecraft Steve, and an inflatable tube person. All of them can be found on her Booth page.
You’ll need VSeeFace, a free facial tracking program for your webcam, to try out the cursed xQc face for yourself. A tutorial on how to get it working can be found on Fofamit. You’ll need an iPhone and the Waidayo or iFacialMocap apps for the other cursed models.
Fofamit stated that she is still working on VTuber models that transform you into a horror movie monster. For her, it’s all a learning experience.