For all the issues going on at Twitch, it has brought a lot of people together. People within their local communities to audiences and friends all over the world. On February 27, the Twitch world is going to become smaller.
What’s going on with Twitch?
It was announced today that Twitch will be pulling out of Korea. The whole business will be closing its doors on February 27, 2024. The reason cited was the cost to operate Twitch in the region.
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.”
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy
Clancy states that they had tried a multitude of options to drive down the cost of streaming. Ultimately, according to him, Korea’s network fees were just too high for what Twitch was willing to put up with.
In a way to reassure other content creators around the world, Clancy goes on to say “that this is a unique situation.” I’m sure that’s to get ahead of anyone thinking that if they could just pull out of Korea like that, what’s to say it won’t pull out of their country.
Twitch plans to help these communities find new homes and knows that it may not be on Twitch going forward. It plans to help streamers find alternative platforms in Korea and has reached out to those platforms to help with the transition.
I want to reiterate that this was a very difficult decision and one we are very disappointed we had to make. 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.”
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy
What does this all mean?
There are a couple of help documents that Twitch provides for content creators outside and inside Korea.
According to these documents, not only are content creators affected, but viewers, too. They are turning everything off. Twitch viewers in Korea will no longer be able to subscribe to channels or make purchases.
For those outside of Korea, there isn’t really much you would need to worry about. The most Twitch says you may notice is a slight dip in revenue if you were receiving funds from within Korea. If that’s you, you will have received a notice stating so.
For those in Korea, content creators will need to start making preparations. Twitch has lifted restrictions on its Simulcasting Guidelines there to allow for advertising elsewhere. Share as many links because this will obviously help with the migration.
You do not provide links, or otherwise direct your community, to leave Twitch for your simulcast on other services because we value the community on Twitch and the integral role community engagement plays for all Twitch users.”
Section 11.2 of the Simulcasting Guidelines
Content Creators in the area may still get invites to join the Affiliate program, but can’t actually join because onboarding will not let users select Korea as a country.
It is also encouraging Koreans spend whatever money they have on the platform as you won’t get Bit refunds. Subscriptions will continue until February 27, 2024 unless a viewer cancels beforehand.
Also, if you are someone who lived in Korea when you became an Affiliate or Partner but have since moved, you may want to go ahead and update information before you get cut off.
There is a lot going on and I encourage anyone who may be affected by this sudden news to please check out the blog post from the CEO and the help documents provided to better prepare yourself.
Source: Twitch Blog
