Beloved indie dev "miraculously" lands co-op game featuring 9 of the biggest vtubers on Earth, but pays a heavy price: "My cringe ass trying to voice act"
Holo X Break features several Hololive talents, but not without cost
Earlier this month, Kay Yu, the lead dev behind Vampire Survivors-esque roguelike phenomenon HoloCure announced a promising new co-op brawler called Holo X Break. Yu has since confirmed that Holo X Break will feature voice acting from at least nine streamers of featured vtubing organization Hololive – all sizable internet celebrities in their own right, with enough subscribers to put them at the top of the whole vtubing industry – but it seems getting them on-board put him through the most embarrassing moment of his life.
Yu recounted the bittersweet story in a Twitter thread. Holo X Break stars two generations of Hololive vtubers, with four known playable members and another five positioned as antagonists. "We miraculously got all nine talents to agree to lend their voice," Yu explained. That's when the trouble started.
"They wanted to make sure it was easy for the talents to record and say the title exactly how it's meant to be said," he continued. "So they asked me... to record myself saying it as an example for them... I sat there for 30 minutes contemplating if I was mentally ready to accept these nine talents will listen to my cringe ass trying to voice act and say the title the same way y'all heard it. Eventually I manned up and did it, but I feel like I lost a piece of myself that day.
"I have never felt more embarrassed in my entire life than that moment. My shame died. I'll never live it down; it's over for me. Anyway, I wonder if there's another voice in this game not revealed yet."
The silver lining is that basically every streamer in Hololive is a big fan of Yu thanks to HoloCure. After all, they've introduced his breakout game to millions of viewers via countless live streams. I'm sure it was, in a way, exciting for Yu to interact with the streamers behind these beloved characters, especially for a collaboration on a new game that has the backing of the newly minted indie gaming arm of Hololive owner cover. That said, I can also see why this would be so nerve-wracking, especially for someone who seems to like keeping a pretty low profile.
In more serious, equally fascinating news, Yu clarified that Holo X Break won't be an ongoing project like what HoloCure has become: "Once it's done and released, it's done (with minor bug fixing updates)," he said. "That's not to say there won't be any more content for this game ever again, but I'd say don't bet on it."
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Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.