Cover Corp. CEO Motoaki “Yagoo” Tanigo has gone public with plans for Hololive to develop a more prominent presence in the Western market, including by introducing talents focusing on diverse niches and further expanding to Amazon-backed livestreaming platform Twitch.
Streaming is a volatile industry, and many content creators prefer to be loyal to one specific platform rather than having channels on multiple platforms. Hololive, for instance, has a significant presence on YouTube compared to other streaming platforms. This makes sense given that the agency’s channels on YouTube have a high following, and switching or streaming on other platforms could dilute that fan presence. But this may change in the future as Hololive tries to further expand to new markets, more Hololive vtubers streaming on Twitch looks to be one of the new changes viewers are set to soon see.
Yagoo stated in an interview that Hololive will start to expand its presence on Twitch in a bid to better cater to Western viewers, as well as to open up more opportunities for the agency.
Vtubers have become significantly popular in Western countries, so it isn’t surprising that agencies are beginning to grow an interest in catering to those specific viewers’ demographic. Cover has already opened up an office in the United States for this very reason. Yagoo explained that Western viewers prefer a greater variety of content than just anime, even those who are specifically interested in vtubers, so Hololive wants to diversify its portfolio by bringing in vtubers who will stream more gaming content.
Hololive and Twitch
Cover’s CEO stated that a recent Death Stranding 2 collaboration helped Hololive “reach a wider audience of people who wouldn’t come across vtubers.” This is why the company wants to make its presence on Twitch and potentially get more sponsorships and collaborations in the future. Introducing more vtubers who play games could help better cater to Hololive’s new target audience, while bringing in more viewers on the agency’s newly-emphasized platform.
The size of Twitch, being the leading livestreaming platform and arguably the best place for streamers to get discovered, is by no means a secret. While many content creators prefer using other platforms such as Kick and YouTube, Twitch is in a sphere of its own as far as raw livestreaming popularity. Twitch has its negative points, such as its lower profit split and a reputation among some vtuber fans for being biased against vtubers in its disciplinary measures, but a large portion of streamers still prefer using the platform rather than its alternatives.
Multistreaming is a growing trend in the streaming world, and it’s likely that Hololive may capitalize on that in the future rather than just streaming on any one particular platform. Some Hololive vtubers, such as ex-talents Amelia Watson and Gawr Gura, had Twitch channels, but YouTube was their primary platform for streaming. The Amazon-backed livestreaming platform was never the chosen one for Hololive, but that may be changing as the company increasingly looks to Western audiences for further growth opportunities.
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