Neo Paradigm Entertainment is looking to help Korean Twitch streamers maintain their presence on the platform after the site is shut down in the country.
In 2023, Twitch confirmed that it would be shutting down its South Korea branch. CEO Dan Clancy stated that operations costs in South Korea are too high to maintain a presence in the country. He further explained that network fees in the country are higher than in most countries in the world. As a result, Twitch had been losing money in this market.
Shutting down operations in South Korea was one of many cost-cutting measures taken at Twitch in recent months, which came alongside another round of layoffs. Clancy later stated that Twitch is not profitable.
Content creators in the country are left in a precarious situation, being forced to migrate their communities to new platforms. Neo Paradigm Entertainment was formed amid the chaos, aiming to fill the void.
What is Neo Paradigm Entertainment?
Neo Paradigm Entertainment is a streaming-focused talent agency that focuses on promoting South Asian and Southeast Asian talent.
As part of this, the company is seeking partnerships with both streamers and esports competitors from Korea in particular. A number of the most popular streamers from Korea are current or former competitors in major esports like League of Legends. There are also terms related to active competitors on the company’s website.
In the weeks after the company’s initial announcement, Neo Paradigm Entertainment began revealing the talent attached to the company. The first was Sang-a “NiniBAE” Yonini, a fitness and health content creator who is also the COO for the agency. The second was Cheon-ye “Beat Berry” Seo, a cosplayer, model, and singer.
Who is the most popular Korean Twitch streamer?
In terms of followers, esports star Sang-hyeok “Faker” Lee is the biggest Korean streamer on Twitch.
Faker is a brand name in competitive League of Legends after winning four world championships and promising to win a fifth. He doesn’t actually stream often, however. He didn’t go on-air once in 2023 and had months of inactivity before then. It’s easy to see why though, as he dedicates most of his PC time to his work on Summoner’s Rift.
Though Faker passively has the biggest follower count, that doesn’t mean Korea is lacking in popular streamers. There are a number of other big names including a former teammate in Jae-wan “Wolf” Lee
