Twitch Shutdown in South Korea

Key insights

5 slides

Impact on Twitch

Twitch saw a decline in engagement and channels after the shutdown announcement.

This trend was observed between November 2023 and January 2024.

Twitch's decline. Twitch experienced a 15.44% decline in average minutes watched and a 12.84% drop in unique Korean-speaking channels.

15.44%

Decline in average minutes watched on Twitch (Nov 2023 - Jan 2024)

Decline in unique active channels: 12.84%

Local competition

Local platforms are aggressively competing for the displaced user base.

AfreecaTV is rebranding to SOOP, and Naver launched its Chzzk service. These platforms aim to offer higher video quality and integrated features.

Like a race to fill a vacuum, local platforms are innovating to attract new users.

Platform strategies. Local platforms are aggressively competing for the displaced user base by rebranding and launching new services with enhanced features.

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Summary

The impending shutdown of Twitch in South Korea, driven by prohibitive network costs and regulatory hurdles, has triggered a significant migration of creators and viewers to alternative streaming platforms. Analysis of non-esports, Korean-speaking channels between November 2023 and January 2024 reveals a clear downward trend for Twitch, which saw a 15.44% decline in average minutes watched and a 12.84% reduction in unique active channels.

As Twitch’s presence wanes, competing platforms are capturing the displaced audience. AfreecaTV has emerged as a primary beneficiary, recording a 14.24% increase in average minutes watched and a 6.90% rise in unique channels. While smaller in scale, Kick experienced a notable surge, with a 40.41% increase in average minutes watched and a 61.95% jump in unique channels. YouTube also saw a modest increase in unique creator activity, suggesting that streamers are actively diversifying their platforms in anticipation of the February 2024 service termination.

The market shift has intensified competition among local providers, most notably between AfreecaTV—which is rebranding to SOOP—and Naver’s new service, Chzzk. These platforms are leveraging strategic improvements, such as enhanced video quality and integrated services, to secure the former Twitch user base. This transition marks a fundamental restructuring of the South Korean live-streaming landscape, requiring stakeholders to adapt quickly to the evolving digital ecosystem to maintain audience engagement and market relevance.