Twitch Closes Its Streaming Service In Korea Due To Cost Issues

Twitch closes its service in Korea (photo: Twitch)

Twitch, the world's leading live streaming platform, announced that the company will shut down Twitch in Korea on February 27, 2024, for reasons of very expensive operational costs.

The company claims to have made various efforts to reduce these costs, such as experimenting with peer-to-peer models for quality and also adjusting the source quality to a maximum of 720p.

"In the end, the cost of operating Twitch in Korea is very expensive and we have spent a lot of effort reducing these costs so we can find ways to keep Twitch's business in Korea," said Dan Clany, Twitch's CEO in his announcement.

Despite this,ncy said that the cost of their network in Korea is still 10 times more expensive than in most other countries, causing significant losses in the country.

As a result of this shutdown, the company plans to help these streamers or communities find new homes.

"We will try to help Twitch streamers in Korea move their community to alternative live streaming services in Korea," Clan said further.

Clancy also claimed to have contacted several services in Korea to help transition and will communicate with affected streamers as the discussion progresses.

"I want to reiterate that this is a very difficult decision and we are very disappointed to have to make that decision. Korea has always and will continue to play a special role in the international esports community and we are very grateful for the communities they built on Twitch," he concluded.