Twitch Is Shutting Down in South Korea, Cites 'Prohibitively High' Costs

Twitch, the popular video streaming service owned by Amazon, will shut down in South Korea next year, the company announced late on Tuesday.

Twitch said that the cost of doing business in the Asian country is "prohibitively high" due to the country's network fees, which, Twitch said, are ten times higher than other countries. Despite downgrading video quality and trying other ways to save money on streams, Twitch was running at too large a loss to sustain, it said.

Twitch Will Shut Down Its Streaming Platform in South Korea — A picture taken at the Tokyo Game Show on September 21, 2018, shows the logo of the VOD and streaming video games company Twitch.MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images

The service will shut down by the end of February 2024, which could leave a vacuum for homegrown alternatives to fill.

Twitch is one of the most popular streaming platforms for gamers in South Korea. Aside from YouTube, its main competition came from Korean alternatives like AfreecaTV; indeed, its share price surged 17% immediately following the announcement.

Twitch Unveils New Super Mario-Like Recap Game That Will Infuriate You
South Korea Fights Back Against ‘Shrinkflation’
South Korea Reverses Ban on Single-Use Paper Cups
United States, South Korea Condemn North Korea Launch of Spy Satellite into Orbit
South Korea, US Practice Drills for Potential ‘Hamas-Style’ Attacks by North Korea
South Korea to Ban Dog Meat Production and Consumption by 2027

Twitch Is Shutting Down in South Korea, Cites ‘Prohibitively High’ Costs

Twitch said it had been incurring 'significant losses' due to prohibitive network costs in the country