The year 2025 has seen a continuing rush of graduations from Hololive. On social media, the anguished cries of fans and voices of anger towards management are endless.
“They say they’re going to improve working conditions, so why isn’t anything getting better?”
“Why is it so difficult to simply reduce the workload?”
This is a question many fans have. In truth, there are reasons unique to Cover Corporation that cannot be dismissed simply with the phrase “a black company culture.”
Hololive is Not a “Normal” Talent Agency
This is the first point many people misunderstand.
Many people think of Hololive as a “talent agency” like Yoshimoto Kogyo or Horipro, but the way their businesses spend money is fundamentally different.
-
Typical Talent Agencies
-
For TV shoots, the studio and cameras belong to the “TV station.”
-
For live concerts, sound and lighting are outsourced to “external vendors.”
-
The agency itself is a “management company.”
-
A typical talent agency’s main expenses are for “talent promotion” and “transportation costs.” The number of employees is minimal, and labor costs are likely average.
On the other hand, Hololive…
-
Hololive (Cover Corporation)
- Manages its roster of VTubers (talents).
-
Builds and maintains its own industry-leading 3D studio and employs technical staff for 3D and video as company employees.
-
Operates a game called “Holoearth.”
In other words, Hololive is a high-cost company that not only manages talent but also incurs enormous expenses for **maintaining its facilities.**
Unlike a typical talent agency, it has massive “fixed costs” every month, such as studio maintenance and salaries for technical staff.
A Single Talent Has to Feed “Nine Employees”
This is the core of the problem.
As has been pointed out in online discussions, Hololive has an abnormally high “number of employees that each talent must support.”
For “Nijisanji,” which is often used as a comparison, it is said that there are about 3 employees per talent.
However, in Hololive’s case, some theories suggest there are about 9 to 10 employees per talent.
It’s Not Just Managers They’re Supporting
The employees at a typical talent agency are managers who take care of the talents and sales staff.
However, many of the employees hired in large numbers at Hololive are in “technical positions” such as engineers, programmers, and 3D modelers.
But technical staff cannot sell anything themselves to earn money.
Unless the affiliated VTubers earn money through streaming and events, the technical staff cannot receive their salaries.
The Burden of the Unprofitable “Holoearth” Project
Furthermore, the company is advancing massive projects like “Holoearth (metaverse project)” that are not yet profitable.
Its development costs are said to be on the scale of hundreds of millions to billions of yen annually. The situation is said to require covering this enormous deficit.
“Talents reducing their work” = “Development funds running short, making it impossible to pay the salaries of hundreds of employees.”
Hololive talents are not only earning their own living expenses; a small number of them are also shouldering the burden of a huge technical organization and future investment costs.
This is the biggest reason why “they can’t simply reduce their workload.”
Why Can’t Things Be Improved “Right Now”?
You would think so, wouldn’t you? However, there is a time lag specific to corporations.
-
Year-long Projects:
Live concerts and large-scale projects have been in motion for a year. Even if a talent says “it’s too hard” now, massive projects that are already underway (venues booked, merchandise produced) cannot be stopped suddenly.
-
No Replacements:
If a company employee takes a day off, a colleague can cover for them, but a VTuber’s performance is only valid with “that person’s voice and soul.”
-
Uneven Work Distribution:
If popular members turn down a job, the job doesn’t disappear; it just slides to mid-tier members or newcomers who can’t refuse. The overall burden on the organization does not decrease.
Ultimately, they have ended up in a precarious cycle where, in order to cover massive expenses with a small number of VTubers, the talents must endure a workload so intense it makes them want to quit.
Summary
From a critical perspective, Hololive’s current management structure is, one must say, using talent activities as a “means of fundraising for its own technology development.”
While a typical talent agency’s goal is to “promote its talents,” Hololive’s goal seems to be “using talent revenue to build technology and platforms.”
-
An abnormally inflated number of employees and fixed costs
-
Upfront investments that disregard profitability (Holoearth, etc.)
-
All supported by a very small number of talents
Unless this “inverted pyramid-like structure” is resolved, no matter how much they pay lip service to “improving work conditions,” it will be difficult to reduce the physical burden on the talents.
In 2025, it all depends on whether the company can reconsider this “excessive investment and expansion strategy” and shift its focus to being talent-first.
That should be the only key to preventing further graduations.