Hololive to expand video game presence

VTuber agency Cover Corp. – owner of the globally successful Hololive brand – will continue to expand its presence in the video game industry, according to its latest earnings report. 

Cover plans to extend its IP licensing business, providing its brand and talents to external game developers. The company’s latest earnings presentation stated that “game development is underway in collaboration with medium-size to large developers.” Additional details about who those developers might be were not disclosed in the document.

Franchises like Sword Art Online and Earth Defense Force have previously collaborated with Cover, putting Hololive members into their games through various means – the pre-order bonuses for EDF 6 contained three Hololive-themed cosmetics, to name a recent example.

IP licensing has steadily grown its share in Cover’s revenue stream over the years, accounting for nearly a fifth of the company’s income from services by now. Currently, most of Cover’s collaborations are limited to fellow Japanese companies – that’s certainly true for its efforts in game development. 

Cover aims on to expand this aspect of its business globally with the opening of an office in North America and the hiring of agents in several other regions. Both measures are “under preparation” and scheduled to be completed by the end of the current fiscal year.

Aside from working with larger developers, Cover’s gaming efforts are concentrated around its holo Indie label, which allows independent developers to create games using the Hololive brand for a set fee with Cover acting as publisher for the titles, and the in-house development of Holoearth. The latter is a virtual environment that is supposed to allow players to interact with Hololive’s talents directly and is currently undergoing beta testing.