Soop ramps up streamer support as platform battles falling sales

"The most I ever made in a single month was just over 400 million won." — BJ Gwajupseyeon (real name In Se-yeon)

Soop, formerly known as AfreecaTV, has long drawn attention as South Korea's leading solo-streaming platform, partly because of the eye-catching earnings its top streamers can command. The spotlight intensified when Gwajupseyeon, named the platform's 2025 Streamer of the Year, revealed that her monthly income once reached 400 million won ($289,000).

As streamer valuations have climbed, competition to sign popular broadcasters has grown fiercer. With more platforms vying for talent, retaining established streamers and attracting new ones has become a defining challenge for the industry.

Soop has now unveiled a sweeping support policy aimed at boosting streamer recruitment and activity on the platform.

The new policy centers on helping new and returning streamers get their broadcasts off the ground while expanding collaboration among existing creators. The goal is to create a self-reinforcing cycle in which active streamers draw in and nurture the next generation of talent.

A key initiative is the newly launched Soop Partners Mentoring Program, which pairs established partner streamers with newcomers or returning broadcasters. Mentors share their experience and know-how in running broadcasts and planning content, and collaborate through joint streams and co-produced content.

Soop plans to pay mentors a support stipend tied to their mentees' broadcast performance, and will also offer joint-broadcast support events and rewards for outstanding mentors.

The platform is also overhauling its ranking system. Soop will consolidate the existing streamer rankings and the "Star Rankings" into a single, easier-to-navigate interface, and will introduce new monthly and quarterly rankings.

The revamped system is designed to help streamers track their performance over different periods, set goals, and stay motivated through tier-based benefits that reward sustained broadcasting activity.

A new achievement certification system will let streamers record and commemorate milestones. Streamers will receive tiered emblems based on cumulative viewer counts, along with physical commemorative objects marking their accomplishments.

"We plan to roll out features that improve user convenience — such as scheduled Star Balloon gifting and streamer anniversary alerts — to further strengthen communication between streamers and their audiences," Soop said.

Soop's push to strengthen streamer support reflects a direct link between competitive talent and platform profitability.

The urgency is underscored by a recent earnings slump, with a recovery in platform sales — the primary revenue driver — now a pressing priority.

Soop posted consolidated operating profit of 12.6 billion won in the second quarter of this year, a 57.9 percent drop from the same period last year. Sales fell 11.2 percent year-on-year to 103.8 billion won. Platform sales, which include revenue from Star Balloons, declined 12.3 percent to 74.1 billion won.

The company is also pushing to sharpen the content edge of its streamers through technology. AI-integrated services are at the forefront of that effort.

Soop is rolling out SARSA (Soop AI Realtime Streaming Assistant) 2.0, an AI manager service designed to support streamers during broadcasts and help them engage with their audiences.

When a streamer steps away briefly or runs a sleep-stream, the AI can hold conversations with viewers, recommend content, or watch video-on-demand clips alongside them — keeping the broadcast going in the streamer's absence.

Soop plans to deploy SARSA 2.0 with a select group of streamers first, then expand the service based on actual usage patterns and audience feedback. The company said it will continue refining the AI manager's capabilities in response to input from streamers and viewers, with the aim of making it useful across a wide range of broadcast formats.