South Korea – SOOP, a new live streaming platform, will launch its global beta on June 5, 2024, featuring intuitive features and exclusive original content through partnerships with top esports personalities like Faker and other gaming streamers and game publishers.
Building on nearly two decades of expertise from the team behind Korea’s top live streaming platform, AfreecaTV, SOOP offers advanced features and technology for an enriched and seamless live streaming experience.
Tailor-made for esports and gaming fans, the new platform has secured strategic partnerships with esports and gaming’s most notable figures, such as League of Legends 2023 World Champion, T1, including Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok; world-class VALORANT team, DRX, including Byung-chul “BuZz” Yu; three-time EVO Tekken champion, Bae “Knee” Jae-Min, of DRX; former Overwatch champion, Kim “EscA” In-jae; and gaming streamer, ACAU AKA “Crocodile”.
These illustrious esports and gaming personalities will create live streams and original content for global viewing on SOOP, as well as on AfreecaTV for Korean fans.
SOOP will also partner with renowned Thai streamers like EDWIN, SuperBusS and FifaTargrean, who will live stream and upload original content exclusively on SOOP.
In addition to teaming up with esports athletes and gaming streamers, SOOP has collaborated with game publishers, tournament organisers, and industry leaders to enhance esports viewing experiences. Notably, SOOP has partnered with Riot Games to exclusively produce and operate VALORANT Challengers Thailand 2024, and secured the publishing and broadcasting rights for the VALORANT Champions Tour in Thailand.
A wide range of SOOP original content will also be available for users to enjoy at launch, including broadcasts of the AfreecaTV VALORANT League (AVL), Global StarCraft II League (GSL), AfreecaTV StarCraft League (ASL), AfreecaTV Tekken League (ATL), and Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB), as well as variety entertainment spanning casual gaming, music, and talk shows, exclusively on SOOP.
SOOP users will be able to host multiple channels under one account, empowering streamers to diversify their content for different audiences and interests, eliminating the need to grow new channels and audiences from scratch.
The platform will feature integrated virtual avatar creation from leading 3D developer MASCOZ, enabling streamers to become “Virtual Streamers” instantly and seamlessly, without the costly setup of avatar creation and motion capture. Additionally, a real-time live stream translation feature will launch by the end of June 2024, allowing streamers to expand their international communities.
Daniel Choi, general manager of global business at SOOP, said, “SOOP represents more than just a streaming platform; it embodies a cultural movement towards unrestricted expression and community empowerment. We are thrilled to introduce SOOP to the world and are committed to leveraging our wealth of experience to enrich the global streaming landscape.”
SOOP will be available starting June 5, 2024 (June 4, 2024, for North American users), in English, Thai, and Chinese on its web platform for PC users, and via Android and Apple apps for mobile users.
