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A secretly massive roguelike has come to Steam, and in just 10 hours it's crossed 2,300 reviews with a 99% positive rating, and with some 45,000 active players during non-peak Steam hours. It's the kind of success most indies could only dream of, and the game is totally free.
That roguelike is HoloCure - Save the Fans, a Vampire Survivors-style pixel-art action game based on the vtubers of the Hololive brand owned by Japanese company Cover. Whether you're a Hololive fan or a Vampire Survivors enthusiast, HoloCure is a true joy to play, especially after the Steam launch update which added even more stuff to collect, not to mention side activities like fishing and Animal Crossing-esque decorating.
Since its global eruption a few years ago, Hololive has somehow wormed its way into gaming through multiple fan project, and HoloCure is the cream of the crop. It was first released over a year ago through Itch, and despite its runaway success – which has even convinced Cover to unofficially adopt the game – it remains free to play. Lead developer Kay Yu, who heads the small team working on HoloCure, previously said he wants the game to remain a pure passion project, and it's certainly overflowing with passion.
HoloCure's combat and mechanics are watertight – picture a more hectic spin on the screen-exploding action of Vampire Survivors. That said, you'll certainly get more out of the game if you are in the vtuber rabbit hole. From the character and enemy designs to the music and stages, not to mention countless references in item and weapon descriptions, HoloCure is a Hololive game through and through. I've learned a lot about Hololive through remarkably good games just like this, but the game absolutely whips even with no prior knowledge.
In a sense, HoloCure's Steam success is no surprise, and only partly because this is simply a re-launch for it. The game's also enjoyed hundreds of millions of views in free promotion thanks to the Hololive streamers it's about, many of whom have recently been playing an early access build of the Steam version on stream. Hell, search YouTube for HoloCure right now and you'll find four Japanese Hololive streamers playing it with 52,000 viewers between them. Of course, this wouldn't have happened if the core game wasn't so good.
The free fan-made Hololive brawler Idol Showdown launched earlier this year and became one of the biggest fighting games on Steam.
