"Chijijik Closely Chasing to Catch Up with AfreecaTV"

Viewer Gap Narrows After Twitch Service Ends
Expectations Rise for Service Integration After Official Launch

The viewership gap between AfreecaTV and Naver Chijijik, which have formed a duopoly in the domestic streaming platform market, is gradually narrowing. Since the global streaming platform Twitch withdrew from the domestic market at the end of last month, competition between the two companies appears to be intensifying. Once Chijijik officially launches its service, the competition is expected to become even fiercer.

According to internet broadcasting ranking site SoftConViewership on the 11th, as of the 8th, AfreecaTV's peak viewership over the past week was recorded at 374,148. Meanwhile, during the same period, Chijijik's peak viewership was identified as 221,012, showing a gap of about 150,000 between the two platforms.

However, Chijijik's recent pace of catching up has been steep. Over the past week, Chijijik's peak viewership increased by 8.7%, and its average viewership during this period also rose by 7.3% to around 80,000. On the other hand, AfreecaTV's peak viewership decreased by 7.0%, and its average viewership also dropped by 1.4% to 141,756.

In terms of mobile viewership, there have been instances where Chijijik surpassed AfreecaTV. According to data from application analytics firm MobileIndex, on the 1st, Chijijik's daily active users (DAU) were 911,733, exceeding AfreecaTV's 906,018.

Chijijik's growth is attributed to Twitch's service termination, which led to an influx of users. SoftConViewership explained, "With Twitch's service ending, many streamers have migrated over, laying a very important foundation." Additionally, since Chijijik aims to be a comprehensive gaming platform similar to Twitch, users with similar preferences appear to have migrated to Chijijik.

When Chijijik completes its beta version in the first half of this year and launches its official service, competition between the two sides is expected to intensify further. AfreecaTV's plan to launch the global streaming platform 'SOOP' and change its domestic service name within the first half of the year to counterattack is also a variable.

The market expects that once Chijijik's official service starts and integrates with other Naver applications, its market share will accelerate. A Naver representative said, "It seems that the infrastructure to broadcast and allow anyone to watch is currently somewhat established," adding, "Through the official launch, we can expect integration with various services such as Naver Cafe, membership, short-form videos, and commerce, and our goal is to solidify this."