State of the Stream: South Korean Edition
Welcome to the State of the Stream, where we share the latest streaming data around platforms, content creators, and related trends. The following report features narratives crafted by StreamElements based on data courtesy of our friends at Streams Charts.
Everyone remembers where they were sitting when Twitch announced it would pull out of Korea — or at least all of the streamers in Korea do. The news led to speculation about where livestreamers would move their content. Two Korean platforms with international expansion plans raised their hands.
AfreecaTV is the country’s local giant in the livestreaming space, but this all changed on January 11, 2024, when they announced they would rebrand as SOOP and become a global livestreaming platform. The beta is expected to go live in the first half of this year and is “slated to be available in English, Thai, and Chinese.”
Naver, often called the Google of Korea, is also getting in on the action. They announced CHZZK, a global livestreaming platform whose public beta is slated for May.
The following slides illustrate the growth/decline of these platforms, with context at the bottom about what we can glean from this.
AfreecaTV’s hours watched have dipped a little, while Twitch’s dropped drastically due to it being sunset. Meanwhile, CHZZK has continued to grow month-over-month. The number of active channels and average viewers in the charts below followed a similar pattern.
Every platform has a version of Just Chatting that is among the most popular categories. AfreecaTV’s top game is League of Legends, which is regularly #2 on Twitch’s global charts, illustrating shared market tastes.
Or Perry, Co-founder of StreamElements, had this to say:
“This past year, the discourse on livestreaming platforms has been rooted in Twitch, YouTube, and Kick as content creators weigh options for reaching the broadest audience. In South Korea, AfreecaTV and Naver are looking to join the conversation by launching global platforms this year, with Naver’s CHZZK currently in beta and AfreecaTV’s SOOP beta announced for the first half of 2024. The best thing any industry can offer is options, so it will be interesting to see if the Hallyu that boosted K-pop and K-dramas extends to gaming platforms.”
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