Twitch, Amazon.com’s leading game streaming platform, has announced the end of its service in South Korea. According to Twitch’s announcement today, the company plans to end its operations in South Korea on February 27, 2024. This means that Twitch users in South Korea will not be able to purchase paid products after a certain date, and streamers will no longer be able to monetize.
What’s behind the business exit?
Twitch’s decision to pull out of the Korean market is largely due to the burden of network fees. Twitch said that the cost of operating in South Korea is no longer sustainable due to network fees that are about 10 times higher than in other countries. This is also related to Twitch’s lowering of its maximum video resolution from 1080p to 720p last year and its discontinuation of its video-on-demand (VOD) service.
Twitch’s exit from the Korean market is expected to benefit competing platforms like YouTube and AfreecaTV. These platforms may have the opportunity to absorb Twitch users and streamers.
A new competitor, Naver’s ‘Chijijik’
NAVER is set to launch a game streaming service called “Chizzyzik” (CHZZK, tentatively). The service will include full HD-quality 1080P resolution, a user-friendly interface (UI), community, sponsorship features, and plans to offer video-on-demand (VOD) replay capabilities that Twitch does not. NAVER is already privately testing the service with its employees and plans to launch it to the public next year. Twitch’s exit from the Korean game streaming market is likely to reshape the competitive landscape between established platforms and new services.
With Twitch’s withdrawal from the Korean market, Naver’s game streaming service, ChiziZik, is expected to take center stage. NAVER’s “Chizigik” plans to provide users with a video-on-demand (VOD) replay feature that Twitch does not offer. This is expected to reshape the competitive landscape of the Korean game streaming market. This could be a great opportunity for NAVER, as the company is already privately testing “Chizigik,” which is expected to launch next year. In this situation, YouTube and Africa TV are also expected to take the opportunity of Twitch’s withdrawal to attract users and streamers.
