Earlier in December, Twitch’s CEO made a surprise announcement that shocked streamers and fans alike: the streaming service would soon stop operating in South Korea. Twitch cited unusually high expenses of operating in the country as a key reason for their withdrawal from the region, an issue that other internet platforms have struggled with.
With Twitch leaving behind a significant South Korean market of streamers, it is still up in the air where most of these professionals will transition to in order to continue their trade of live broadcasting. South Korean company and online platform Naver are presenting their own solution to this market gap: a new live-streaming platform called CHZZK.
When is CHZZK launching its services?
CHZZK is currently live and amidst an open beta version of the site, which is slated for a full release sometime in mid-2024. The open beta began on December 19 and will continue until Naver is confident in the platform and ready to open it to the world.
The clear question for any live streaming enthusiast considering checking out CHZZK is how the platform is better than Twitch. The purple platform’s disappearance from the market leaves a gap, but there are already multiple live-streaming services established in the South Korean market. AfreecaTV and Bigo LIVE are already entrenched in the East Asian nation, and YouTube Live is also seeing substantial growth in its Korean community.
As we saw in our top streaming debutants of 2023 piece, some of the fastest-growing creators of the year are from South Korea. Streams Charts PRO users can also browse our database for the most-watched creators of the year and see how Korean streamers are growing in the industry.
So, why choose CHZZK?
Naver’s new CHZZK supports full HD 1080p resolution — something that Twitch abandoned in late 2022 — at 60 frames a second and 8 megabit bit rate. The high quality of video is something that already sets it apart from Twitch, and there’s more. The platform will also offer a VOD service of past broadcasts, another feature that the Amazon-owned company disabled for South Koreans in late 2022.
CHZZK will also have the full power of Naver behind it. In the Korean digital realm, Naver stands tall as the foremost search engine and online platform, wielding unparalleled influence and significance. Its dominance in the Korean market stems partially from its localised approach, providing tailored services and content catering to the unique preferences of Korean users. Naver is well acquainted with providing localised and engaging services for its Korean user base, but it will need to expand its worldview to the global stage to ensure CHZZK’s success.
Twitch’s advantage over other platforms like AfreecaTV was the international nature of the platform itself. South Korean streamers could not only appeal to their local audience but aim to reach a more international audience on the purple platform. An international and diverse audience is a key goal for any budding live streamer, and many content creators have highlighted their concerns about losing this audience if they move to a live-streaming platform aimed solely at a Korean audience.
Localised Korean platforms like AfreecaTV have struggled to foster this international audience, so this presents a unique opportunity for CHZZK to appeal to both South Koreans and international fans of streamers from the country. At the moment, CHZZK is only available in the Korean language, but this might change as the open beta progresses.
For professional creators as well as fans and viewers, the platform is shaping up to be a top-quality alternative for South Koreans after Twitch announced a sudden departure. As we can see in the YouTube Live statistics, South Korean streamers are gaining traction on the platform, and it would be a shame for the development of this section to take a step back with Twitch’s departure.