Twitch shutting down in South Korea

Twitch has announced it will end operations in South Korea at the end of February 2024, and blamed the high cost of operating in the country.

Twitch made the announcement yesterday through an article on its blog, attributed to CEO Dan Clancy.

Twitch said it will now work to help Twitch streamers based in South Korea to “move their communities to alternative livestreaming services”, calling the decision to suspend business there “very difficult” and “extremely disappointing” for those affected.

Twitch has been operating in South Korea “at a significant loss”, the company said, and network fees within the country are “10 times more expensive than most other countries”. Despite implementing methods to try and reduce costs a considerable amount, including limiting maximum source quality to 720p, these haven’t been enough to offset the high costs of operation.

On 27th February, Twitch streamers who have set their country of residence as South Korea will lose any monetisation they have through Twitch, and any active subscriptions to South Korean channels will be cancelled. Streamers will receive their final payout from Twitch on 16th March.

Clancy also posted a statement on X (née Twitter) and said the decision was one Twitch had “delayed for some time” and again apologised to South Korean streamers.

Twitch is also ending service on Nintendo Switch via the app in January 2024. The company did not state why it made the decision, though it’s likely because it isn’t used much.