Dan Clancy, Twitch CEO, has announced the termination of Twitch services in South Korea starting February 27, 2024. According to the blog post, the cost to operate Twitch in Korea was significantly higher in comparison to other countries.
After attempting various ways to reduce those costs, including experimenting with a “peer-to-peer model for source quality” it did little to lower Twitch’s network fees, still managing to be “10 times more expensive than other countries.”
While it’s unconfirmed why Korea’s network fees are so high, Tech Crunch noted that Twitch’s issues likely stem from a 2021 Korean court case decision that requires streaming platforms to pay web traffic fees.
Regardless, this has left Twitch operating at a significant loss, and according to Clancy, leaves no way forward sustainably operate their business in Korea.
“…I want to reiterate that this was a very difficult decision and one we are very disappointed we had to make.,” wrote Clancy. “Korea has always and will continue to play a special role in the international esports community and we are incredibly grateful for the communities they built on Twitch.”
Clancy reiterated that this was a situation unique to Korea, and despite the streaming platforms services ending, Clancy promised to assist streamers and their communities to find new homes in “alternative platforms.”
“…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,” Clancy continued.
Twitch had cemented itself as a major contributed to Korea’s eSports scene for popular games like StarCraft and League of Legends. Many Twitch streamers shared their sadness at the sudden news and worry for their Korean counterparts.