SOOP, a new live-streaming platform set to launch globally on June 5th, has partnered with League of Legends veteran Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok, esports organisation DRX and others in the esports space.
According to the announcement, SOOP has teamed up with various personalities, game publishers, tournament organisers and industry leaders in esports and gaming to offer content on release.
Described as a platform ‘tailor-made for esports and gaming fans’, SOOP will launch its global beta in English, Thai and Chinese with a webpage and mobile versions for Android and Apple. The streaming site was developed by the team behind major Korean live-streaming platform AfreecaTV.
With several partnerships, SOOP aims to elevate its content portfolio. Faker and DRX members, including Byung-chul ‘BuZz’ Yu, three-time EVO Tekken champion Bae’ Knee’ Jae-Min, former Overwatch champion Kim’ EscA’ In-ja and gaming streamer ACAU AKA ‘Crocodile’, will create content on SOOP as well as AfreecaTV for Korean fans.
Similarly, Thai streamers such as EDWIN, SuperBusS and FifaTargrean, will stream exclusively on the emerging platform.
SOOP has also partnered with Riot Games to exclusively produce and broadcast VALORANT Challengers Thailand. The platform has further secured the publishing and broadcasting rights in Thailand for tournaments, including the VALORANT Champions Tour.
Finally, SOOP users will be able to consume a variety of content across music, gaming and esports, including the AfreecaTV Global StarCraft II League (GSL).
The new streaming service hopes to differentiate itself from competitors through unique features. SOOP creators can host multiple channels under the same account and can utilise an integrated virtual streamer avatar creation tool by avatar developer partner MASCOZ.
A real-time live-stream translation feature is set to be released before the end of June.
The launch of SOOP sees another platform compete with market leader Twitch on the global live-streaming landscape. In the past, numerous platforms have launched with similar partnership strategies, most notably Mixer, which signed exclusive contracts with gaming personalities Shroud and Ninja.
While Mixer shut down in 2020, another competitor, Kick, emerged in 2022 and is still operating. The service has forged collaborations with ESL FACEIT Group and Australian football club Melbourne Victory.
