This is a translation of the interview with Motoaki Tanigo (CEO of Cover Corp) regarding the company's gaming initiatives.
1. The Pre-Hololive Genesis: From VR Game to VTuber
Initial Vision: Cover Corp was founded not strictly as a "VR game company," but as a "VR startup" aiming to develop services combining VR technology and the internet.
The Mobile Game Idea: The initial plan was to create a VR community service, like a "Mobage" (Japanese social gaming platform), primarily featuring casual games.
First Game: One of these games was the VR table tennis game, Ping Pong League (released in 2017).
The Pivot: Tanigo-san quickly realized competing with established Western VR developers was difficult, and promoting VR content, in general, was very challenging.
New Direction: He concluded it would be more interesting to use characters to promote VR content (e.g., characters who live-streamed games). This concept became the origin of Cover Corp.
Early Development Team: The development was primarily handled by CTO Fukuda (Kazuaki Fukuda), with Tanigo-san, a gaming novice, contributing to menu design (using Blender) and some Unity implementation (making the gym walkable, adding dumbbells, etc.).
Shift to VTuber: Tanigo-san and Fukuda, both from a community service background, focused on adding community elements to new technology. This led to the creation of Tokino Sora (Sora-chan) and the start of developing the streaming app that would become the basis for hololive.
Transition Timing: Game development (by Fukuda) and the VTuber/streaming system development (outsourced) proceeded in parallel. The priority soon reversed, and the talent business grew to become the main focus.
2. Hololive's Gaming Initiatives
Hololive Gamers (2018):
Context: Game streaming is one of the three main content pillars for VTubers (Game streaming, Karaoke, Chat) and reliably attracts viewers.
Goal: At the time, hololive lacked many talents skilled in game streaming. The team was created to gather talents strong in game streaming, such as Shirakami Fubuki, to increase internal collaboration partners.
Philosophy: VTuber collaboration is key, similar to how a story is created by the interplay of 4-5 anime characters. The goal was to "set the stage" to naturally encourage interaction among talents.
Tanigo-san's Personal Gaming: He hasn't played much recently due to being busy, but was an avid gamer in university. His favorite game is Super Famicom's Tactics Ogre, which influenced his appreciation for the importance of worldbuilding and branching narratives.
Hololive ERROR (2021):
Goal: Primarily to differentiate from past campaigns. It was an alternative to the annual "hololive Summer" swimsuit event.
Theme: The idea arose from the thought, "Summer means horror."
Success: Horror proved to be a good choice, as it could be expanded to other events like "hololive SUPER EXPO" and amusement park collaborations.
3. Vision for Gaming Business & Collaboration
Overarching Vision: The basic policy is to collaborate with creators and development companies rather than developing games in-house.
Co-Existence: Cover Corp views itself as a party that live-streams games, aiming to grow the market together with game developers.
Global Recognition: Games are seen as a way to introduce VTubers to a wider audience, especially overseas, where recognition is still lower than in Japan (e.g., Idol Showdown being featured at EVO).
Content for Talents: Game releases provide important "material" (content ideas/assets) for the talents' daily live streams.
Core Principle: Since hololive's system development started with the idea of "creating characters to promote content," the current emphasis is on whether VTubers can effectively promote games and creators.
Recent Collaborations:
The company has been working with various external game companies, including Gemdrop (Holo no Hanafuda), Entergram (Aquarium., Okayunyu-m!), and Jupiter (Uifutei Raden ga Goannai! Pixel Museum).
Tanigo-san noted the personal interest in working again with Jupiter, a company he was involved with during his time at Imagineer.
4. Specific Game Titles
Holo no Hanafuda (Released July 31, 2025 by Gemdrop):
Context: Increased collaboration with small-to-medium-sized game companies through the "holo Indie" initiative.
Features: Includes online competitive play. Noticed an expansion of the customer base beyond hololive fans. The limited edition including Nintendo-made hanafuda cards (themed after the talents) was a highlight.
Aquarium. (2022) & Okayunyu-m! (2025):
Origin: Aquarium. began with Minato Aqua's desire to create a game. This was facilitated through an existing company connection with Entergram.
Talent-Driven: The development of Aquarium. was linked to a hololive tradition: talents who reach 1 million channel subscribers get to have a wish granted.
Cover Corp's Role: Providing recorded data and supervision.
Days With Ollie (Supervised by Kureiji Ollie):
Origin: In some cases, like this one, the talent already has a strong idea about the development company and the game's direction from the start. Cover Corp is open to actively pursuing more talent-driven projects if there is demand.
Tanigo-san's Influence: He does not deeply involve himself in individual projects. He speculates his past experience at Imagineer, which was skilled in media-mixes, might contribute to Cover Corp's current publisher-like perspective (focusing on market growth and new customer acquisition) that values external collaboration over in-house development.
5. holo Indie Project (Game Creator Support Program)
Background: Cover Corp has always promoted fan activities (fan art, clips, games) via its secondary creation guidelines to both promote talents and support creators.
The Catalyst: In 2022, the fan-made game HoloCure – Save the Fans! became a major hit on talent streams. Tanigo-san felt bad that the creator received no financial return.
The Goal: To create a monetization mechanism to reward creators and encourage sustained activity.
Launch: This led to the creation of the subsidiary CCMC (Cover Corp Media Creation) and the "holo Indie" program in 2023, which added monetization rules to the guidelines and officially supports creators.
Core Principle: holo Indie was born "in return for the favor" of the free, hit game HoloCure. The starting point was the desire to create a sustainable environment for creators.
Creator Support:
Consultation on development process.
Publishing support (SNS promotion, exhibiting at game events).
Benefits: holo Indie titles are easier for talents to stream, and using Cover Corp's IP helps boost initial sales.
Future Focus: Improving the intake process, especially English-language information for the many international developers.
Future Outlook: The main goal is to "lower the barrier to game development" and help people realize their dream of making a living as a game developer, supporting individuals, independent studios, and established companies alike.
6. Upcoming Title
DREAMS (First Smartphone Rhythm Game):
Announcement: Announced at "hololive 6th fes. Color Rise Harmony" on March 9, 2025.
Details: Cannot reveal much about the game content yet.
Vision: Music is an increasingly common entry point for new VTuber fans (e.g., via TikTok, Spotify). Since many Cover Corp songs are composed by well-known Vocaloid Producers, the music is accessible. The goal is for the game to be a gateway to discovering hololive and VTubers.
Release: Planned for a global simultaneous release.
Would you like me to find out more about any of the mentioned games or initiatives, such as the HoloCure game or the "holo Indie" project?