COVER announces COVER USA, aims for Indonesian and English markets

12 March 2024

Tuesday (3/12), the virtual YouTuber (VTuber) agency company COVER Corporation announced that they would open their first overseas subsidiary office in the United States. This subsidiary office will be branded with the name COVER USA.

According to the press release, the company that owns the hololive production VTuber brand stated that the opening of this office was carried out to support content localization efforts to support global expansion.

COVER Corporation is making significant strides in expanding its VTuber (Virtual YouTuber) business on a global scale. With its mission “To create culture loved by all”, the company is committed to promoting VTuber culture worldwide and has set its sights on English-speaking countries and Indonesia. To achieve this goal, COVER Corporation recognises the importance of establishing localised business environments in each region, including tailored content provision and sales activities.

Over the past year, COVER Corporation has been actively raising awareness of the VTuber industry in these markets. In 2023, the company organised the groundbreaking “hololive English 1st Concert -Connect the World-” in North America, the first-ever hololive production concert in the region. Additionally, COVER Corporation has collaborated and partnered with international companies and participated in 26 overseas events from April to December 2023. These efforts have significantly contributed to expanding the recognition and awareness of VTuber activities.

During last years, COVER Corporation and its VTubers have received notable accolades. In August 2023, Gawr Gura, a VTuber under COVER Corporation, was honoured with the VTuber of the Year award at the prestigious Streamy Awards, the largest content creator-focused award show in North America. Furthermore, COVER Corporation was recently awarded the Runner-Up Award in the Project Category for CJPF Awards 2024, an initiative organised by the “Cool Japan Public-Private Partnership Platform” to promote Japan’s attractiveness overseas. These achievements highlight the company’s commitment to promoting VTuber culture globally.

Motoaki Tanigo, CEO of COVER Corporation, expressed the company’s dedication to spreading the VTuber culture worldwide. He stated, “COVER Corporation is actively striving to promote the culture of Japan-made “VTubers” phenomenon worldwide. Last year, we participated in over 20 anime conventions and successfully held a large-scale live concert in North America. We are excited to announce the establishment of our first overseas office to further bring awareness to the VTuber culture in North America. Through our North American office, we aim to expand our local PR efforts and business operations. We look forward to collaborating with various local companies in the future and are excited about the opportunities ahead.”

Starting with COVER USA, COVER Corporation will further deploy various measures to expand the local community and create new business opportunities on-site. Simultaneously, through the content IP (intellectual property) of VTubers, they will collaborate to create a new field where virtual entertainment transcends borders and generations and creators from various genres around the world can thrive.

Recognising the immense potential of the VTuber market, which is expected to reach 80 billion yen in Japan in fiscal year 2023 and grow to approximately 25 trillion yen globally by 2028, COVER Corporation has taken the strategic step of establishing COVER USA in North America. By doing so, the company aims to position VTuber culture as a Japanese-originated content business that can compete on a global scale alongside manga, anime, and games.

Translated and modified from Indonesian language press release.

The Indonesian Anime Times

This article was amended on 15 March 2024. An earlier version said COVER is opening a new “branch”, which is an incorrect term usually reserved to refer the corporation’s VTuber branches. It was corrected to “subsidiary office” as per the update COVER sent to us.