Twitch is officially ending in Korea.
While Twitch may seem like it is thriving throughout the world, unfortunately, those who have developed communities out of Korea will see their channels shut down as of tomorrow, February 27, 2023. This news comes directly from Twitch CEO, Dan Clancy, as he posted a blog explaining the shutdown back in late 2023.
Sadly, many communities and streamers are being affected by this outcome, as Korea held a large basis of streamers that used the platform.
Twitch announces official shutdown of its platform in Korea
In Clancy's blog, which was posted on Twitch's official website, the CEO explained how operating Twitch in Korea was an expense that ultimately cost them more than it made.
"Ultimately, the cost to operate Twitch in Korea is prohibitively expensive and we have spent significant effort working to reduce these costs so that we could find a way for the Twitch business to remain in Korea," said Clancy.
He then goes on to explain that Twitch did try to experiment with making it more cost-effective to run Twitch in Korea.
"First, we experimented with a peer-to-peer model for source quality. Then, we adjusted the source quality to a maximum of 720p. While we have lowered costs from these efforts, our network fees in Korea are still 10 times more expensive than in most other countries."
Sadly, it seems as if none of these efforts worked, as Twitch remained completely unprofitable in Korea.
"Twitch has been operating in Korea at a significant loss, and unfortunately there is no pathway forward for our business to run more sustainably in that country," said Clancy.
While Twitch may be ending in Korea, it seems as if the country is fighting back, as South Korea slaps the live streaming platform with a $300,000 fine for suspending services in their country.
Twitch to help Korean streamers and their communities transition
Luckily, the streaming platform is not leaving Korean streamers in the desert, and has been helping them and their communities transition to different streaming platforms such as Kick and YouTube.
"Twitch streamers in Korea have devoted significant time and effort into building their communities, and we plan to help these communities find new homes — even if it’s regrettably not on Twitch," said Clancy.
While specific platforms were not mentioned, it can only be assumed that Kick, YouTube, Facebook and more are where Twitch is pushing Korean streamers towards.
"We will work to help Twitch streamers in Korea move their communities to alternative live-streaming services in Korea. We are also reaching out to several of these services to help with the transition and will communicate with impacted streamers as those discussions progress."
Hopefully, these transitions have gone with only a minimal amount of issues, as many streamers probably feel that their livelihoods are being stripped from them.
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