How a Virtual-Origin Event Drove Real-World Attendance

HIKKY Co., Ltd. held Virtual Market 2025 Winter, one of the world’s largest virtual events, alongside Virtual Market Real 2025 Winter, an XR-based real-world event that originated from Virtual Market, from December 6 to December 21, 2025.

We are pleased to share this event report, capturing how enthusiasm moved fluidly between virtual spaces and real-world venues across both events.

25% First-Time Participants, 10-Minute Average Booth Stay, and Over Half Shared on Social Media: Virtual Market Drove Organic Reach Through Immersive Experiences

Virtual Market 2025 Winter was held on the social VR platform VRChat for 16 days, from December 6 to December 21, 2025.

The event featured 16 general exhibition worlds, along with two corporate exhibition worlds themed around Shinjuku and Singapore. More than 700 independent creator circles participated, alongside companies and organizations from a wide range of industries.

Over the course of the event, the total number of visitors exceeded one million from around the world. Attendees enjoyed shopping at booths, immersive experiences unique to virtual environments, and interaction with other users. Social media activity related to Virtual Market also spread widely, with the event trending on X on its opening day.

【Virtual Market 2025 Winter Highlights】

^{※ Selected excerpts from visitor survey results}

Now in its 15th edition, Virtual Market 2025 Winter continued to attract new audiences, with first-time participants accounting for 25% of total visitors. At the same time, over 90% of respondents said they would like to participate again, indicating both successful new audience reach and strong interest in future editions.

Visitors were predominantly in their 20s and 30s, highlighting growing, ongoing engagement with generations expected to drive future consumption and content sharing.

The average time spent per corporate booth was approximately 10 minutes. Rather than being consumed at a glance, content encouraged visitors to engage at length, deepening their understanding of brands and products through immersive experiences.

More than half of visitors also shared their experiences on social media, extending engagement beyond the event itself and generating organic, viral reach.

Advance Tickets Sold Out, Nearly 30% of Participants Visited 14 Partner Locations: Virtual Market Real Carried Momentum from Virtual to Real

Virtual Market Real 2025 Winter was held over two days, on December 20 and 21, 2025, at Akihabara UDX. The event featured 134 general creator circles, along with seven participating companies and organizations.

【Virtual Market Real 2025 Winter Highlights】

Marking its sixth edition, Virtual Market Real 2025 Winter sold out all advance tickets for both event days, with total attendance exceeding 30,000 visitors. On-site, long lines formed even before opening, as attendees enjoyed shopping, interacting with exhibitors, and experiencing XR content available exclusively at the event.

This year also saw the introduction of a numbered-entry system for the paid area for the first time. As a result, entry queues, previously reaching up to 1,500 people were cleared within approximately 30 minutes after opening, contributing to a smoother experience and improved event operations.

This year, collaborations with local businesses were expanded to include 14 food and beverage venues. More than 8,000 visitors, around 30% of total attendees also visited partner locations, where special menus and merchandise sold out in quick succession, extending visitor activity beyond the event venue into the wider Akihabara area.

This movement is driven by a participatory user community cultivated within VR culture. Both events are realized through co-creation with creators and users, built upon the Virtual Market platform, which engages more than one million participants worldwide.

Rather than simply consuming content, participants naturally capture, share, recommend, and revisit experiences. This self-driven enthusiasm originates in Virtual Market and carries over from virtual spaces into the real world, appearing in lines at Virtual Market Real, purchasing behavior, and visits to local stores.

Virtual Market and Virtual Market Real serve as spaces where this user-driven momentum comes together, with HIKKY giving form to that collective energy through these events.

Exhibitor Case Studies

Below are selected examples of initiatives by companies and organizations that participated in this year’s event.

◆ Earth Corporation

Earth Corporation participated for the first time to introduce its newly revamped mouthwash brand Mondahmin to younger and new audiences.

At its Virtual Market booth, the company presented an interactive game in which players used Mondahmin to defeat dirt and bacteria inside the mouth, using gameplay unique to virtual environments to highlight the importance of oral care and increase product awareness.

The company also took part in Virtual Market Real 2025 Winter, sponsoring the experiential game V-Duel and distributing Mondahmin samples to participants. Many visitors commented that they were glad to try a product they had first encountered in the virtual space, demonstrating the effectiveness of a seamless virtual-to-real brand experience.

Comment from Earth Corporation

Earth Corporation participated in Virtual Market 2025 Winter for the first time, and we were delighted to welcome so many visitors. To mark our company’s 100th anniversary and the first full renewal of our Mondahmin mouthwash in 38 years, we created an immersive game experience in which participants entered the mouth of Virtual Market’s official character and used Mondahmin to defeat food residue and bacteria. Through this experience, we aimed to make learning about the importance of oral care both fun and engaging. Tens of thousands of avatars—particularly from younger generations—visited the booth, creating lively interaction. Mondahmin accessories given to survey participants were also well received, and we hope this initiative helped encourage greater awareness of everyday oral care.

◆ Honda Motorcycle Japan

Honda Motorcycle Japan participated for the first time to directly reach younger and new audiences with the appeal of motorcycles. At its Virtual Market booth, the company offered immersive content that recreated the exhilaration of motorcycle touring, allowing both enthusiasts and first-time riders to experience touring in a way unique to virtual environments.

The company also collaborated with the VRChat community VRC MOTO MEETING, hosting a discussion session within a dedicated booth space. As a result, the community gained more than 300 new participants during the event. At Virtual Market Real 2025 Winter, representatives from Honda Motorcycle Japan and the community met in person, extending relationships formed online into the real world.

Comment from Honda Motorcycle Japan

Honda Motorcycle Japan would like to thank everyone who visited the HMJ booth. As this was our first participation in Virtual Market and our first challenge in the virtual space, there were many unknowns at the start. However, we feel that the experience allowed many visitors to discover the appeal and enjoyment of motorcycles. Through our collaboration with the VRChat community VRC MOTO MEETING, we were also able to contribute to the growth of the motorcycle community. We were delighted to receive many comments and requests through surveys and social media, and we look forward to continuing to explore new ways to share the appeal of motorcycles through virtual experiences.

◆ Suzuki Motor Corporation

Suzuki Motor Corporation participated in Virtual Market for the first time to raise awareness among younger audiences. The company showcased Suzuride 2, a personal electric mobility vehicle under development, and Seniorcar, an electric mobility scooter marking its 40th anniversary, across two corporate exhibition venues.

Visitors experienced a preview ride of the unreleased Suzuride 2, learned traffic rules for small electric vehicles through an interactive game, and tried riding the Seniorcar in a story-driven virtual experience. These virtual-first demonstrations helped communicate product features and mobility concepts in ways unique to virtual environments.

Comment from Suzuki Motor Corporation

Suzuki participated in Virtual Market 2025 for the first time to introduce the 40th-anniversary Seniorcar and the in-development Suzuride 2 to younger audiences we had not previously reached. Through booth presentations and virtual-only test-ride experiences, we explored new ways to communicate product features and traffic rules that are difficult to convey in real-world settings alone. We were delighted to see many visitors share their experiences on social media and comment that Suzuki’s products felt more familiar to them. We sincerely thank everyone who visited our booths, and we will continue striving to provide customer-focused experiences across both virtual and real environments.

◆ Japan Racing Association (JRA)

Japan Racing Association participated in Virtual Market for the third time, placing racehorse avatars across two corporate exhibition worlds and offering visitors the experience of riding horses while exploring the venue. Many attendees enjoyed this unique horseback experience within a virtual environment.

At Virtual Market Real 2025 Winter, JRA also presented immersive VR content, including a jockey experience that allowed visitors to relive the 2024 Japan Cup from the perspective of jockey Yutaka Take, as well as 360-degree VR views of French racecourses and training scenes. The booth drew strong interest throughout the event, with lines forming continuously.

Comment from Japan Racing Association

The Japan Racing Association exhibited at Virtual Market Real 2025 Winter, where many visitors experienced our horse racing content, including the VR Jockey Experience. We were delighted by the strong response from Virtual Market fans to the immersive combination of realistic motion and 360-degree VR visuals. We will continue to explore new ways to share the appeal of horse racing through innovative VR experience

◆ HUB Co., Ltd.

HUB Co., Ltd. collaborated with two Akihabara locations—HUB Akihabara and HUB ChomChom Akihabara—both well known as gathering spots for VRChat users.

The collaboration café ran for three days, including the days of Virtual Market Real and the days immediately following the event, offering original collaboration drinks.

The original coasters provided with drink orders proved highly popular, selling out by the second day. Both locations were fully booked throughout the three-day period, creating a lively atmosphere filled with energy from morning to night.

Comment from HUB Co., Ltd.

Each collaboration has been a great success, and this time we recorded approximately 1.5 times the number of collaboration drink sales compared to the previous event. We were particularly impressed by how naturally users connected and enjoyed interacting with one another. The sense of excitement and unity created in a real-world setting truly embodied our company’s values of creating emotional and memorable experiences. This initiative also welcomed many first-time visitors to HUB, reaffirming the potential of collaboration projects. We sincerely hope to collaborate again at both the Akihabara and ChomChom locations in the future.

Virtual Market 2026 Summer and Virtual Market Real 2026 Summer to Be Held in July

The next Virtual Market 2026 Summer will be held over 16 days from Saturday, July 11 to Sunday, July 26, 2026. Virtual Market Real 2026 Summer will take place over two days, on Saturday, July 25 and Sunday, July 26, at Bellesalle Akihabara (1F and 2F).

In conjunction with both events, applications are now open for participating companies and organizations. For further details, please contact us using the information below.

Details regarding the start of general exhibitor applications and the concepts of each general exhibition venue will be announced in future updates.

Additional information will be released sequentially via Virtual Market - Global (@enVket) on X and Discord channel. Join the Virtual Market - Global Discord Server!